The Official Amstrad Magazine
COMPUTER USER
Gauntlet games
compared
PCW Protext,
Arnor's finest
PC programming
Plus: Type-in games. Machine code tutor
Red Boxes, Pokes, news and reviews
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NonAray NOK ?0,00, ^pain 300 Ptas, Turtay 1^60 TL, Denmark Kr. 31.00, New Zealand N^ShI 95 Rec
MASTERFILE III
FOR THE AMSTRAD CPC 6128 (ALSO CPC 464/664 WITH DK TRONTCS 64K RAM)
FIRMLY ESTABLISHED .. ALL THIS POWER ..
MASTERFILE III is now firmly established as
THE filing system for the CPC6128. It has received
rapturous reviews and we could paper the walls of
our new offices with our customers’ letters of
appreciation.
For thehenefft of newcomers to the CPC machines-
MASTERFILE III is a powerful and flexible data
filing and retrieval system. All “database” systems
require that your data is organised into fields and
records. Unlike most, MASTERFILE does not
commit you to field lengths or fonriats, since ALL
data is variable-length and optional. Files are not
pre-formatted, and only used bytes are saved to
disc. Also, unlike the rest, MASTERFILE allows
multiple user-defined ways of viewing/printing
your data. And unique in its price range, MASTER-
FILE offers RELATIONAL FILE options, where¬
by common data can be entered just once and
shared by many records. Maximum field size is
240, maximum fields per record is over 50, and
maximUTTi file size is 64K* Room for 1,000 full
names and addresses, for example. Only one disc
drive is required. It is menu-driven throughout, and
comes with detailed illustrated manual, and exam¬
ple files.
so VERY VERSATILE ...
Just about ANY kind of information can be
handled by MASTERFILE. You can EXPORT the
data to other systems {e.g. PROTEXT/MERGE and
TASWORD). You can even merge your own USER
BASIC to MASTERFILE for customised file
processing, or build new files from other computer
sources. The speed of SEARCH of MASTERFILE
is second to none. Records can be sorted ascending/
descending, character or signed numeric, even
embedded keys such as surnames. Other functions
are field-to-field calculations, and several-across
label printing. We simply don’t have room to list all
the features; give us a call if you are still in doubt
of the power of MASTERFILE III.
Drier I □ 1 ^
SwWfD tif BvilufSl ftiirls.
HLcrocMrulrr. dK RAH i ISH ftm
Pl'CrtceHHU'tFr . BAH due
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SaL-iuLpijH printer SOCAt An^tr^^
intentIW ^riffC?5f ...
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This is no toy thrown together in BASIC and half-
tested, hut real machine-coded computing power
professionally constructed. We have had IBM and
Apricot users beg us for a MASTERFILE for their
machines — when they had seen the earlier CPC
MASTERFILE. All this power is yours for ...
£39,95.
For those who already have an earlier MASTER-
FILE, we offer updates; please telephone for
details. You will be amazed at the performance
improvements and extra functions.
*** PCW users: be patient, MASTERFILE 8000
will be ready early in 1987
MASTERCALC 128 SPREADSHEET
We also have one of the fastest and friendliest
spread-sheet programs around, MASTERCALC
128. Its unique features include: Individual tailor¬
ing of column widths and precision; relocatable
formulae; split-screen option; automatic cursor
advance; text output to printer, or to disc for
interface with PROTEXT or TASWORD; hi-res
graphic histogram of any three rows. MASTER¬
CALC 128 runs on CPC6128, or CPC464/664 with
DK’Ironies RAM. The price is just £33.00.
]. ■ Lwvvl . cr'i
- Sf.'H ^ r P.ii'fcDMrill
\ ' S*rtMr<
SPECIAL OFFER
You cart save £10 by taking MASTERFILE III and
MASTERCALC 128 for a combined price of just
£62.95.
Prices include VAT and P&P to anywhere in
Europe. Elsewhere please add 20% for air-mail
service. ACCESS/VIS A/MASTERCARD welcome,
written or telephoned, quoting card expiry date.
Make cheques payable to “Campbell Systems”.
Our normal response is return of post, 1st class.
CAMPBELL SYSTEMS Dept. (ACU)
7 Station Road, EPPING, Essex CM16 4HA,
England. Tel: (0378) 77762/3.
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REGULARS
5 News
7 Letters
13 Hairy Hacker
17 Gallup chart
27 Adventures
REVIEWS
31 Z Basic
Get extra Zzzzip by compilmg your
PC Basic programs*
54 Red Boxes
Control your home electronically,
with Reds under your bed, and In
the hall, and in the kitchen, and . . .
66 Protext PCW
The '"best ever" CPC word
processor has joined up with Joyce*
Is it a happy marriage? Simon
Rockman checks it out.
75 Games reviews
Coiir, Nigel and Liz, joysticks in one
hand, pen in another, test the latest
offerings
PROGRAMMING
20 Combat
A program-it-yourself two player
listing for you to key in.
23 Maths makes
pictures
Programs don't have to be long to
give good results, says Bill Headly.
35 Assembly point
Save space in ram and on disc by
compacting your screens*
42 Snake
A fun game for the CPC464, written
in machine code.
47 MS-DOS
Looking after your directories can
make the PC user's life much easier*
70 Sniper
Improve your aim with this type-in
game*
73 Technicolour PC
Who knows the secrets of the
PC's 16 colour mode? ,
FEATURES
39 Gauntlet vs the rest
Dandy and Storm, Gauntlet and
Druid are all very similar, so which
one should you buy?
56 Top Gun
You can be Tom Cruise, but don't
forget to avoid the danger zone.
60 Ye Gods
Chris Wood checks out the world of
the play by-modem game*
COMPUTER USER
EditfirM And Adv*rtlAing oftlCAA;
1G9 Klne'i Road, Bentwood, Eamm CMt4 4EF*
Tef: 0277-234^59 fEdltonait; 0277 234434
Tefecom GoMr 72:MAG02r
FNjbjishad Avralit# Ltd. St. Pttarsgste, Stockport SKI 1 ML
Nbws trBdr dfsifibvtfBnrDitrrrCryd-Cut^fl^ft S*iBS Dtslrtbuttan Ltd,
Unit f, BvrMts fioBd, ivyttet/se LBfie, Hastings, fast Tf\f35
Tai: 0424 430422.
Tha offictal fliB«azina lor aN EditorJ Slmcm Rockman
uaara of Amatrad com^Mitan Advartlaamant Manogar: Jmnm Noten
Advartiaavnant Aaalatant: LorFain* Day
Amstrodftangistervdtfademar*:, and with tha t/tla
Afnstfffd CpfTjpi/t^ h used with thd pdrniiiSfdd
of AfnstTfid Cdnsumdr fiedtrOnics fiic. Nd part of this
puhtiddtion may ba rdprOdudatf without pa/missiofi,
Wftiis mvary affori is mada to ansura the occwecy of
eif feetiiros and iistings we cannot accept any (iatiUtv
fur any mistakes pr misprints. Tha viaws and Opinions
axprassad arc f^ot nacessardy thcsa of Amstfad ot
Amsoft but foprosant the views of our many readarS,
owners, members end contributors. We rmgrai that
Amstrad Compular t/ser cannot enter into personaf
corrasponderree.
^ A^/ralite Ltd 1387.
*
. Amstrad User February 10S7
Pages
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Enter into the exciting and dangerous
world of the International Motorcycle
Racing Championship with this superb
simulation featuring a major circuit from
each of 12 countries and split screen
graphics^ giving both players first person
perspective.
Available on Amstrad CPC Cassette—
Amstrad CPC Disk -£14.£^9
Coming soon for Commodore 64/128, Atari 8T
and IBM computers.
The very first antibiotic software. Bactron
is very addictive, it could become a drug;
do not exceed the stated dose.Guide Bactron
through the maze of organs and arteries in
the body, combating harmful bacteria and
viruses by releasing healing enzymes.
Available on Amstrad CPC Cassette - £9.99
Amstrad CPC Disk -£14.99
Control MGT - A jet powered magnetic
tank - through a weird and frozen world
of puzzles and surprises.
“The graphics are brilliant...very
atmospheric*'
“A great game...I could play for hours”
'The puzzles are ingenious”
-AMTIX!
Available on Amstrad CPC Cassette— £9.99
Amstrad CPC Disk— £14.99
Coming soon for Atari ST
MAIL ORDER: ACTIVISION (UK) LTD
2S POND STREET, HAMPSTEAD,
LONDON NW3 2PN
Di;jtribule<i by
Activision (UK) Ltd,
500 cc GRANT) PRIX © I9S6 Micrnids. All Kif^hls Reserved
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New name for
Amstrad as it
takes to the skies
The company we know as Amstrad has
changed its name. The old title of
Amstrad Consumer Electronica Pic has
been shortened to just Amstrad Plc*+
retaining the important bit which is
derived from Alan Michael Sugar
TRADing.
The renamed company hag some¬
thing to celebrate with the award of the
world^s largest television contract to
British Satellite Broadcasting (BSR), a
consortium which is backed by Virgin^
Pearson (who own the Financial
Times)j Granada TV^ Anglia TV and
Amstrad Pic.
The contract gives the conaortium
the right to run three direct broadcast
by satellite channeLsn Two of these -
NOW» a 24 hour news channel run with
the support of ITN, and a Disney-style
entertainment channel - will be free,
paid for by advertising. The third chan¬
nel will show recent cinema films and
will he paid for by subscription. This is
expected to coat about £2.5G a week.
BSB won the contract in the face of
stiff competition from four other
consortia. The channels will be moni¬
tored by the IBA, who look after the
public interest on JTV.
The DBS system is expensive. Each
of the five members of the consortium
will have to raise £100 million for initial
funding, and they are looking for fur¬
ther investors.
A start up capital of £500 million
may sound a lot but there is a lot to be
done before the three year project
starts transmission.
The scheme should create up to
25,000 jobs in the first five years, BSB
have the contract for 15 years but they
need to launch one, maybe two, satel¬
lites firstj each costing around £100
million.
The Space Shuttle accident and
failures in the French-led Ariane
rocket project have left a long queue of
would-be satellite owners waiting. BSB
expects to spend £100 million on
making programmes in the first year.
The customers’ costs are much more
down to earth, A small satellite dish of
around 45cm in diameter and a special
decoder is expected to cost around
£200. One day Amstrad may build the
decoder into televisions as standard.
This is very much cheaper than the
Brian Clongh . ^. trying hia
hand at soccer *-monopoly^^
current 200cm type of dish and receiver
which costs around £1,500 to install.
Viewers w^ho get cable TV will not need
any extra equipment.
With the low cost of dishes and
decoders satellite TV is expected to
grow more rapidly than did either
colour TV or the use of video recorders.
Lord Thomson of Fleet said after the
opening of Scottish Independent Tele¬
vise n that it was "just like having a
licence to print your own money”. The
new scheme should prove to be
Amstrad's biggeat moneyspinner yet,
CDS Kicks off
Board games and computers don’t usu¬
ally mix - there have been some
dreadful games which prove that.
However CDS has shown it can be done
with Brian Clough’s Football Fortunes.
The game ig gimilar to Monopoly in
that you have to control a team and
make as much money as po&gible.
As you win matches you move up the
league, the more successful you are the
bigger the gate and the more money
you make. You can then re-in vest this
in better players, but be sure to balance
your team.
The computer takes on the role of
dice-thrower and "chance’’ cards as well
as working out the results of matches
and your rating as a manager.
You don’t need to understand much
about football,, or even like the game.
Also it may help if you’ve never heard
of any of the players since you don’t mix
money and emotion. Not if you want to
win.
The game needs at least two players
and is available for the CPC, PCW and
PC computers at prices between £14.95
and £24.95 depending on the format.
You can contact CDS on 0302 21134,
Arnor lingo
launch
Once upon a time there was a computer
language,, and for want of a better
name it was called A. Then someone
improved on it and so it was dubbed B.
Then two people improved on that.
One called the new language — you
guessed it - C and the other broke with
tradition and called the new language
BCPL.
They are all efficient, structured and
powerful and they are all very difficult
to master. But, so we are told, the effort
is worthw^hile, the end result being pro¬
grams which run fast but take less time
to develop, than machine code,
CPC owners will know that the best
place to stick a language is in a rom, go
that is what Arnor has done with the
new BCPL program.
So as not to leave out PCW owners
there h a disc version for them. Full
details from Arnor on 01-6B4 8009,
Amstrad User February 1987
Page 5
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HiSoft Software What's New?
A lot! We‘ve been very busy over the summer morafa, car^iiUy crt^ir^ more programming tools for the Amstrod computers. Our
move into new offiCiBS {see the address below) with extra :^ace and quiet country surroundings :^>arked off mnny new programs, tUte
HiSofi FORTH &. Kr^eSS, and improvements to existing ones such as PasctdSO &. Write Hand Man. Of course, ad the old favourkes
tike Ct TurboBASlC and Devpar^O are stUl with us and our free catalogue is fatter than ever (juia phone or write for a copy) ......
but wed tike to usf tlus space to teU you something new!
HiSoft Pascal80
KNIFE-86 9
B HiSoft BASIC 1
PascalSO, our populir Pascal CDfnpikr for the Amstrad
disc coizipotere, has chained dracnatically. It now
includes a fully-Laleiactive editor so that you can edit,
cc9Dpile» DOimt, ic-compUe and nin all from a simple
mem, eiror messages lalJier than mmbeis^ variant
RECORDS, FILES of any type, register vari^les,
upper or lower case reserved wwnds, CIlAlNiiiig and
more. PascalSO is now a complete Pascal development
system, is still much faster and smaller than Turbo
Pascal and yd oosls only ... £39.95
Existing owners cun upgrade to Version 2 for £J0 inc.
Runs Oft any CP/M 2 or 3 s yal m with TP A > 36K.
HiSoft FORTH
h
At last! A new & liuly useful FORTH comptler your
Amstrad PCW and CPC612R computer. HiSoft
FORTH is a fa^ conipacl language with full GSX
graphic library, interactive screen editor, stnictiired
assembler for mixing FORTH and asseinbly language,
low level CP/M BDOS interface, extensive utility
libraries and much mort. HiSoft FORITI progtamfi tud
iiicredt1>1y quicUy and yet are easy to write and debug.
The package comes on disc, complete with an
extensive 70 page nunual with a full tutorial section on
the FORTH language and costs only £19-95
Heavy duty disc salvage with Knifed
VouVe just aeddentally deleted the
document you spent the last 4 hours
typing in what do you do? Whip oui:
Tt^ Knife and the di^ster's over, with
one swift cut and thrust of the UNDEL
feature you can recovof all that lost
work.
But it doesn't stop there, Knife-B€ is
ttie rrost comprehensive disc hacking
tool available for the IBM po and its
compatibles (induding, of course, all
the Amstrad PC1512 models).
You can track files across discs,
recover sectors and dusters to new
files, alter directory entries & even
execute DOS commands from within
the package. Knifei-SS comes with a
host of oher useful utilities to
generate batch files, print pages of
text, word count files etc. Plus an
informative G4 page manual packed
with infoonation on M5DOS £29*95
HiSoft BASIC for the Sinclair Spectrum
Plus 2 is the ZX BASIC compiler that
everybody else has spent years trying
to write, HiSoft BASIC compiles nearly
all of Sinclair BASIC quickly and easily
induding user functions, fioaiting point
two-dimensional arrays etc. It is much
faster than its rivds and remarkably
compact (11K). Voted a Sindair User
Classic, HiSoft BASIC transforms your
BASIC code for only £15 95
Write Hand Man
This fabukxis program sits In the
background of your compuler ready to
spring into action at the touch of a key
to give you a notepad, diary, calculator,
macro key editor and much more. We
have a spedal version for owners of the
Amstrad PCW and CPC6128 computers
that Indudes a file editor, a calendar,
function key editing and full use of
graphics. A gem of a program at only
£29*95
Runs on any CPiM 2 or 3 system
Other Products and Ordering Information
T^uboBAStC Gompiler for CPC range Tipe/DiSC £14.9S/£]9',95
HiSoft C Compiler with extra libraries Tape/Disc £19.95/09.95
HiSoA Devpac^ asseinbler/debugger Disc £39.95
[Hk Knife diRC hacker with UnERAse EMsc £12.95
You con order by telephone using Access and Visa or send in a cheque or’
postal orders to the addiess below. We always despatch by furst class,
post and delivery is usually within S days. Please write or phone Sue or
Jui ie for a full calaknj]uc. trade details,, export information etc. _,
HiSoft ^eOldSchoohGreenneld^Bed^, MK45 5DE^J0525)J71818lJ?
FTL Modula 2
We are delighted to annomice the release of Modula-2 The source code of dtis editor, which Ls written in
for the Amstrad CPC6128, PCW8256 t PCW8S12 FTL Modula, is available separately and provides a
and PC 1512 computers. wealth of useful Modula functions.
Modula-2 is fast becoming the alternative language to
Pascal which is not surprising since Niklaus Wirth put all
jie years of experience that he gained designing Pascal into
Modula-2. If you like Pascal^ youli love Moduia-2!
FTL Modula-2 is a full implementation of the language in
a one-pass compiler and linker producing fast and compact
code. The package is completely integrated through use of
the interactive^ split-screen editor which allows you to
invoke both the compiler and linker directly from within
itself and* on a compiler error, control is returned to the
editor on the line where the error occurred with a helpful
English error message. You can then correct and re-compile
without leaving the editor^ great for fast development or
for learning the language.
Some features of FTL Modula-2 are: interactive
editor, standard language (including processes), tight,
fast code, 15 digit real precision, ROM able code
support, large (1024 elements) sets, assembler,
excellent, ring-bound manual and much more.
FTL Modula-2 is available from HiSoft In special
packaging and at very special prices, see the box
below. We accept telephone orders using Access and
Visa or send cheque with order. Please phone or write
for more details of FTL Modula-2, expt>rt info. etc.
FTL Modula-2 Your Next Language
Compiler etc
£S4.9S CP/M
£54.95 PC
Editor Source
£39.95 CP/M
£39*95 PC
%
HiSoft T^OI^School^^eenfield^ed^rdj^K45_5^^^^^^^^^^^^J
LETTERSi
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Please bear iti mind that the mems
expressed herein are not necessarily
those of Amstrad. Be assured that ail
your views are given thorough consider¬
ation. This fetters section is the Amstrad
Computer User's own forum.
Lance’s Letters
Hellok my name is Lance Davig, Tm
your new letters editor. Send me a
postcard (drop me a line?), letter,
notelet, epistle or dispatch. Write it in
crayon, use a Joyce or send it Email
(Telecom Gold 7Z!MAG012) but please
write. Otherwise I may have to go back
to my old job of thinking up excuses for
software houses who advertise games
before they start the programming,
Rambo revenge
In reply to Reuben ThurnhiH’s letter in
September's ACU here is the solution
to his troubles.
After lenving the helicopter go to the
bottom left to the building which you
can't blow up. Change your weapon to
knifes and move along the bottom of
the building. The prisoners will be
freed. The rest is up to you.
John Nougher,
Kent.
LD: Thanks for the tip, now I we can
kill the commies and sleep safe in our
beds true to the American dream. Ron
would be proud.
Arnold advice
I have recently bought a CPC6128,
which I will be using mainly for domes;-
tic word processing and similar work, 1
expect also to do some programming
and the question arises of what Ian-
guage to use.
1 have a alight acquaintance with
BBC Basic but otherwise am a
complete novice, Basic's chief advan¬
tage seems to be that everyone is
familiar with it so that there is a wealth
of knowledge available.
But it has its Umitations and
Amslrad’s version lacks some of the
more advanced features such as
procedures, parameter-passing, and
local variables.
As an alternative 1 have Logo, a
modern language designed for micros
that lends itself to well-designed pro¬
grams. Should 1 forget Basic and use
only Logo? 1 would be interested in
your and your readers" views.
1 would also be grateful if you would
let me have details of any issues
containing reviews of the word process¬
ors by Arnor, Brunning and Tasman.
M. Catton,
(josport.
LD: BBC Basic is more like Pascal or
Comal and the result of too many
educationalists having too much say in
the design.
True, ifs fast, but in a computer that
small they should have ntade it a shade
more memory efficient. Amstrad tried to
retain a true Basic and then add on
goodies such as event handling. Still if
you like typing VDU or *FX 99,2
then fine.
I thought everyone knew that Logo
was makeweight, something that
Amstrad got cheap from DR and
bundled with the 6128 and Pi^W .so that
they could write about it in the sales
blub and to help the poor man in Dixons
convince you that the machine ts e£fu.cicc'
tionai.
No one actualiy USES Logo. Even
DR act surprised when they find
someone has written a long enough pro¬
gram to find a bug.
The editor tells me that we reviewed
Ta.sword so long ago that he’s forgotten
when.
Frotext is the best word processor
ever.
Screen saving
Please could you tell me how to store a
screen into memory, I am only 10 years
old and I am very interested in
Amstrad computers.
My dad bought a CPC464 when they
were new out but when we saw the
CPC612S we sold our 464 and bought a
CPC6128.
Gareth Hewlett,
Alicante,
Spain.
LD: If you have .scrolled the screen then
jfoumg it is gonna he tricky. Assuming
you iuwen*t fcop-oaf — Ed) type SAVR-
''screen’\b,&COOO,16334 and the screen
will wend its merry way onto tape or
disc.
Pugwash
progr amming
I have an Amstrad CPC464 but am a
newcomer to Amstrad Basic. I would
like to know how I can reload and
change a protected Basic program and
also I was wondering if I could gel the
game Ghosts and Goblins on the
Amstrad,
M. Ruge,
Australia.
LD: The protection is put on o program
hi stop you reloading and changing a
program and then giving it to all your
mates.
Yes, there is a way. No, Fm not going
to tell you how. Ghosts ami Goblins is
brill and you can get it from E/i'fe
(&922) 5&S52. Still thafs an expensive
call from Oz — try to call during the day.
Amstrad User February IBS'?
Page?
Not so trivial
I am writing with a sserious complaint
about your review of Trivial Pursuit,
You made no mention of the program¬
mers, a dedicated and hardworking
group of eight people who make up
Oxford Digital Enterprises, Instead,
you gave all the credit to Domark -
“author Domark” , . . "the frills
Domark added tire really useful!”,
which ig ag intelligent as praising the
publisher of a good book rather than
the author.
The people at ODE edited the board
game, then revised researched, de-
signedj invented, checked, double-
checked and programmed the com¬
puter version. Therefore it was they
who made it such a success and they
who deserve full credit,
Surely it is in your interests as a good
computer magazine to know enough to
give credit where credit is due.
R. Newnham^
London.
LD: Too true, yes the praise should go
to ODE. Ali too often the praise goes to
the publisher und nof the progmmmers.
Often this is the fault of the software
house, but with Trioioi Pursuit this is
not the ease. Domark did o gwd joh of
telling us about ODE and it is purely
our fault - sorry.
Joyce loves Arnold?
I have owned a CHi^464 with two disc
drives for the past two years and have
been extremely pleased with it.
Just recently I purchased a PCW
8512. I have tried bo use my discs from
the 464 in the disc drive A on the 8512
and although the files are listed on
typing ‘dir' vrhen I type in the file title
after A> the title comes up with a ?
after it. Is there any way that I can use
my 464 files?
S. Stringer,
Kent.
LD: You can read CPC discs on a PCW
but you cannot w.sc discs on a 464,
well you can few/ you get odd results.
To find out why it isn't working Fd
need more details of the software you
are using'.
Christmas clangers
I am writing in reference to part of your
Christmas shopping guide in the
December 1986 issue, in w^hich you
refer to two back-up devices for the
CPC range.
In one paragraph of less than 40
words you make two serious inaccur¬
acies, which I am writing to correct.
Firstly Multiface 2 does not cost £34
as you say,, it costs £46,95, I imagine
that Romnatic Robot will get a lot of
angry phone calls as a result of that
error!
Secondly^ you say that Imager will
copy more programs that Multirace2.
This w^as not my experience. I found no
program which Multiface2 could not
copy and three which the Imager could
not copy.
Further with Imager it is nearly
always necessary to fiddle around with
windows and colours.
La-stly, Imager w^iil require a cable at
£5 to work with the 6128^ which brings
it outside the sub £50 price range for
the 6128, while Multiface 2 costs less
and not only copies with less hassle but
has a reset switch and toolkit as well,
as you hinted ■when you said that it had
more features.
Ian Hoare,
London NWlO.
LD; Slap on the cuffs, ifs a fair cop.
We made a mistake. Yup thepriee ofthe
multi face 2 is £4635.
The. way in which it works means
that software can check tv see if a mul-
tifuee is attached.
The Multi face has its own PAL
which allows it to correct the Colours
when you have pirat. . er, Imeked up a
program for your own personal use, but
.software can check to see if the PAL is
thet'e, hence the claim that it is not
going to copy as many programs.
While 1 have the sackcloth and ashes
on J may os well point out another mis¬
take, the number for Metroheath, the
Omnircader people, s^owlfi have be
01-247 7184 (Sorry Austin).
I
Dear $%ggLop
Took me a longish time time to geyt
this together, but I got it cracked now.
Bln readin' yer mag an stuff.
Got some stuff ter say about it. Like
what you got against u.s what got
Hayes- compatible, auto dial, auto
answ^ering, self scanning, WSOOl
things?
Don't you know' that the finest minds
around got them things? Well, ho they
say, anyway. Oh, yeah, the towel
thing''s been done. If you had the new
40.1)0 word Humour-Checker (user
expendable) you^d know that. Hang
about ’cos I gotto change paragraphs.
Movin’ on from that stuff, I dropped
an acorn on a squirrel and got the
ninemore carrots but here in for-
eignland the squirrels got better taste
and only eat frogs legs. So how do I get
some 0 them?
WYote off for one o them light pen the
other day, Humphrey Bogey looks like
Felix the cat so I Hcnt it back. Meeds
tun in up or somesuch. Apart from that
stuff the mag does the job but then I
gooto say that to get printed.
This was done on one o them 8516
wot.«iit3. ^Velf you got to show class
ain’t yer. Sorry about the lapses into
Inglish but i ain’t got the Locoscript
thing totally sorted yet. Bye Bye from
us wogs.
Martin Winyard,
LD: Ha, ha, a fumiy letter. iMugh? I
nearly snored.
Pages
Amstrad User February lfl®7
The Shape of
3
CF-2
j!uSS&^
0 ^^ 95
Come.
Mmm- ^^use ^
p*-!* CFZ'S BS 'S'
Cf 20DS^
^ V
■ti"'
:-!r-'
IS
1
F iin itFTinfi,
C
/
V
^
f I f
J I I
(And with 3,000+ questions, ^
it'll keep you happy for months!)
r uFi
DfiiMld
n
Genus Edition
3" dfsc
Genus Edition
Young Plflyer'^ Edition
Cassette
rdisc
Eirtre questions: Young Reyer's
Q-fMck Cassette only
for the Amstrad
CPC and PCW series
At last - the world's most
fashionable board garne comes
alive on your Amstrad
computer.
And it makes the most of the
Amstrad's computing power to
take on an entirely new
dimension.
Order through this special ACU
offer and you'll save £2 off the
recommended retail price. Take
out a subscription at the same
time and save £7.
' RRP
ACU sf vcisl
rssdm offtr
YOU
SAVE
Offer incfvding
eubscrlptlon
YOU
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£19.9S
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£2
-
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£7
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To order please use the form on Page 103
letters!
h
Postal spread
I am a subpostmaster and therefore
have to every week produce a set of
accounts. To this end I purchased an
Amstrad 6128 in June of this year^
which, with a word processing package
would allow me to eitpand my business
as well taking in local secretarial work,
I have spent endless happy hours
playing with my 'Toy” {my wife says
she is a computer widow),
I bought a low^ cost ofllce auite which
works marvellously but I need to
sharpen my teeth on a spreadsheet
with a considerably larger cell capacity,
say 3000+, and with a mathematical
capability on one sheet to fulfill all the
items of my weekly balance.
This means that I need to cross total,
transfer totals from one table to
another and similiar operations,
J. Johns,
Dorset.
LD: You could do a lot worse than look
af SuperCalc Amsofi, Your local shop
should have a copy.
Light under a bushel
Tm a bit of a graphics freak and buy
most graphics programs on the market
so a couple of weeks ago 1 took a chance
and sent off for an unreviewed and
previously unheard of program called
Parrotry which was advertised in the
back pages of your magazine.
Lo and behold it turned out to be
excellent; far more fun to use and
better value for money than most other
graphics programs.
The point I want to make is that
there ia lots of software available from
smaller companies which is good* bad
and indifferent, but we readers often
don't know it’s quality, so please could
we have some mini-reviews or some
sort of marks chart so we don’t have to
gamble with our hard earned money, as
I am sure I won't be so lucky next time,
H, Jones,
London.
LD* With software arriving every day
i fs a bit difficult to keep track of ail the
new releases^ so unless software houses
send us a tetter, or better still a review
copy, they can’t expect us fo write about
their wonderful programs.
Instant Basic
Ls there a way of making a turnkey disc
for a Basic program? I have written a
data filing system for my geneological
records which I use a lot and would like
to make the installation process
automatic so that I can pass it on to
other members of the family.
On a disc with CF/M, SUBMIT,COM
and a PROFILE, SUB with
BASIC.COM will of course lead
straight into Basic, but is there any
way to lead from there into my own
program without further keystrokes?
I have tried putting it into the
PROFILE.SUB ahead of BAS1C.COM
but have found that this only crashes
the system and not even Reset will un¬
scrabble it; and of course if 1 put it in
after BASIC.COM the system has
CP/M and hence PROFILE.SUB before
it has had a chance to implement it,
G,K Armstrong,
London.
LDi You are nearly there, you need to
add your filename into the submit file
and put J13CPM3.EMS on the disc and
all should be tickerty-boo.
Shop talk
I own an Amstrad PCW8512 and read
several computer magazines regularly,
including yours. About a month ago
while on my way to work I stopped off
to buy your magazine and a few
moments after leaving the shop a gen¬
tleman walking alongside me, saw
what 1 was reading and politely asked if
I was an Amstrad user, to which I re¬
plied yes.
He then asked if I knew of any clubs
or societies in or around Leicester to
which I had to reply, with some regret,
that I did not,
I have considered this conversation
many times over the past month, and
would now like to know if there are any
clubs or societies for Amstrad users in
this area? If not, would anyone else be
interested in joining me in starting
one?
Anyone really interested in this idea
can contact me at 77 Melcrose Rd,
Thringstone, Leicestershire.
D Meadows,
LDr ni remember that one next time I
see the leggy blonde who buys ACU in
my local shop. Goad luck with the club.
Music mayhem
I would like to buy a Midi recording
system for a 01^6128 but so far have
seen no advertisements in your maga¬
zine. Could you tell me if any exist yet
and if so who to contact?
Denis Hillman,
Australia.
LD: There is a Midi interface from the
noisest man at any show Mike Beevher,
We reviewed it kutt August and you can
buy it from EMR, 14 Mount Close,
Wivkford, Essex (0702 335747)
ACU
Amstrad User February 1&87
Page 11
Real Correspondence Quality Printer
PRICE BREAKTHROUGH
QUENDATADWP1120 DAISYWHEEL PRINTER
A HOST OP USEFUL FEATURES INCLUDE:
Standard parallel/centronics interface
20 c.p.s. {approx 200 words/minute}
Easily obtained Qume ribbans
Uses Quitib daisywheels {many typefaces available)
10, 12 and 15 pitch options
Maximum paper width 13 inches
4 levels of hammer impression
Comes complete with power lead, plug, ribbon,
courier 10 wheel, manual and cover
Tractor and cut sheet feeder available
TRADE PRICE £178.25 INC. VAT. REC. RETAIL PRICE £299.00
OURPRICE£199. NOW £169.00
AMSTRAD PRINTER LEAD IF ORDERED WITH PRINTER JUST £9.95.
IDEAL FOR 464, 664,6128. WORD PROCESSING.
TELEPHONE 01-446 7170 or 01-952 0451. ACCESS OR BARCLAY CARD WELCOME
DELIVERY £12.50, (mainland UK) or collect from our two stores
/NNorU
Allow 48 hours delivery
779 High Road, North Finchley, London N128JY. (By Tally Ho)
Or 190c Station Road, Edgware, Middlesex (By Edgware Tube)
' Quite the test antf most ffaxibfe personaf accounts system i V# f #tfr) - efouhtas as an fnexpansiva husmass systam " Computirfl with the Amsi rat* * Sepie mber 198 5
^Money Maneifei' is good enough to make most programs of this type give up in shame" Populai Conpuling Weekly 17*23 April 1906
cpSJw" MONEY MANAGER
CPC664 SA VE £5 on RRP of £29.95 whon you ciderdirset frofn Connect Systems
CPC6128 ONLY £24.95 ^ mci. vat, p&p
Unrf¥»/tad faatur^
PCW8256
PCW85‘I2
Financial management software for personai anct/or small business use.
Money Manao^r is sn easy-to-use systarn tor recording all financial iranaactions, and for analysing then in a nymtier of very powaiful ways in *rdei' to fscilitata sound
financial minagemeni. it is ideal for coninoNing the finances of a small business, or for users vwishing to control their personal finances in a bu$inees-ljke way. Use it to
check bank statements, keep track of ejtpenditufe, monitor cash flow, meke budgeting forecasts., prepare business financial statements, pacify your bank manager,
convince the tajt and VAT inspectors, avoid nasiy surprises, etc. etc.1
1 2 months of entries are kept in a file stored on your disc. At any time, you may load a file into the computer memory, add lo or edit the entries, analyte tbem. print
slatemenls. and ihen save the updated file for later use. Entries may be historic [tor record keeping! or forecast itor budgeting!. Vou may have any number of scparale
files, and make copies of files tor arch™* purposes- Vou mgy advance the period covered by a file month by month.
Up to ^O0 separate transactions may be entered per month. Each
entry consists of;
• the day of the month, a.g. 23rd of June.
• An account number, one of up to 9 defined by you to suit your
circumgtancfls e g. 1 =0aircie¥a, 2=Visa, 3=Halifax etc.
• 0 eto ren ce, e.g ■ AG C123 for a cheq ue nu mber or invoice reference.
• A class coda, one of up to bO defined by you to suit your
circumstances e.g. hD=Housahald expenses, bl^Mortgape,
h2=Retea or pO=Production.. p1=Raw meterlals, pZ^Asasmbly,
p3=Fecking, etc.
V A description so that you can aee wbet each transaction was for,
e.g. ‘'New gearbox'' or "floK of 10 diacs''.
9 An gptionel single character mark wbich yOU mey include fbr
further classificetion. e.g. b=businasSr p=private. etc.
V The emount of the transection, which may be plus or minus.
V A merker to indicate whotber the entry ie exennpt, zero rated Or
taxable tor VAT, or alternatively the actual VAT paid.
You may select categories eccording to account, cleee and mark fe.g.
all entries, or all motoring expenses for business using a credit card,
etc,) and produce reports on ths screen or printer es follows;
• Full detailed statements, showing each iransectionfor any month
Or tor the whole yeer.
• Detailed monthly VAT stetemeni showino input and output
a mounts exclud ing V AT, the actual VAT and the ton I a mount., plu s
totals and net due.
S Tables showi ng the tola Is in each cl S ss for each month of the year.
Tables showing it>e totals In eech class tor each account.
Tables showing rTHanthly maximum, minimum, average balances,
turnover, cashfiDW etc-
# Sar graphs of any category month by month,
# Pie charts of annual totals for various categories iCPC version
only).
Plus: atvndUrvg pi^er^ — antrlM ppttor^ally aort*d Into dails
ord«r-*notii eMrch fiacilHv- ComprahatufM manual and
full sat of prvettoa ctota includad,
full talaphona sma^rt.
Sand chetfue or credit card number or phone for immediate despatch.
Connect Systems
3 Flanchford Road, London W12BND 01-743 9792 8am-10pm 7 daya a week
Page 12
Am^trad User February 1987
FEATURE I
Vax, shaken but not stirred by a severe
New Year's eve hangover, offers
another selection of odds and ends
Another person noticed the strange
message (mentioned last month)
hidden in Defend or Pie; Archangel
Richard Hooper from Applecross, down
under. He points out w^hat a pain in the
arm Elite is on a monochrome screen,
all the ships being in ink 1, and thus
well nigh invisible. Any fixes ZZKJ?
Oh yea Archangel, if you see a Pom/
Austrian nurse called Margaret, newly
arrived in the Land of Oz, tell her her
hairy son says “Hi”. That was a Hello
Mum broadcast on behalf of the Hairy
Party,
Printing backwards
Somebody once saidr “Pity,, but there^s
no backspace in LocoScript.” I did? Oh.
Anyway, there is now and here^s how (a
bit convoluted this, but keep reading):
Use the upper case % symbol on
[ALTlfSHlFTIP as the backspace in
your documents. To print them out^
first convert them to an Ascii file (07 in
thedisc management screen) — this
works in a similar manner to a copy.
Try to put the converted file into the
first group of the disc.
Next, dive off into CP/M and type
PIP. PIP then announces itself with a
wee message and a big At this point,
put in the disc with the file on and type:
I,.ST;”filename. Ruzz, buzz, printout
with backspaces,
DonT try to print out right-justified
text in this manner or it'll look like
hungry rats have been nibbling at the
edge of the letter.
A letter here from Arthur Dent
(Come on! you aren't serious?) of SwiU
lingdon (not Magrathea) who has had
four consecutive thrust failures with
his tape on the 6128,
I sincerely hope that this is only his
tape deck not getting On too well with
his ^straddy. Anybody else had similar
problems?
Happy hacking
Next on the agenda today is Justin's
happy hacking spot, with subtitles for
the hard of hearing. Note that there is
only one checksum in it this month.
This is to put some challenge into
typing in pokes.
If anyone out there should perchance
send in the odd poke or three, brownie
points are scored for putting checksums
on long ones.
Any road up, the following pokette
will give infinite lives, grenades and
ammo for both combatants in Ikari
Warriors. The Iraq/Iran dream:
1 R
E4 IKLR.m
mwK PCu.lfTI
$ 1
EM tfQil
h4 hex
?
4 H
EM UDH
N4 CHLCK^Un !
1<
MfP'l 0
z
21
HEHa-RV
$0
F'DEE i-
0 TD IS
;RLAP xMMM
Hi *B "■
;<i
L4Aa
Euirrio
PS""
40
FAR
1 TD 1
7i
RERP •
Bt
iP'P'ICI *
PaL£
i*1,tlP0KE
9M
MEUT n
14 E
CALL
ttf
bATL
1ZI
A process of trial and error (mostly
error) has shown that this very routine
will also work on at least one disc ver¬
sion of the same* How fortunate for you
all.
Pokette Number Two ia for infinite
jumps and lime on Trailblazer.
“Rewind the tape and run the prog-
gyette below”. Something gives me the
feeling that Fve typed that in before:
If
TjHEPl«RT uriFf
If
LfFAt
" ''
Ji
fDR r
T{k
il
READ
AtlFOEE [I.VALC"'i:"4tlJ
51
DERI
n
bf
CALL
tSfii
J*
bRTA
5,ZZ,0},Z0.,t3^fl»
64
DATA
#0
bRTR
Short and sweet. Hexactly.
Cries of "^‘ere, the clock's still goin'
down!” can be safely ignored, 'cos when
the time runs out, the game carries on.
Now infinite lives for Terra “amaz-
ingly smooth scroll” Cognita. Circum¬
vent (look it up in the dictionairy) the
loader by typing LOAD then run
this routine:
If
REM IMApXTIOMRL SMRMT eCFHMEIlT
HDbf
3^«-PFN«IJT '”d‘’±HEMIIR-V -9VV
34
IKK
1.4JINK i^ZAlB-URBER B
Afl
■1«,4D1S3
5f
LDAD
44
LDAb
'?■
fCele
B4
CRLL
IBB 4
Not that difficult was it ?
Now the big one: Infinite lives, shur-
iken (that confused LocoSpell!) and
keys for Gremlin^s Avenger. Rewind
[PAST1E][R1. (That is the key on my
Joyce with “rewind the tape to the start
and run the below routine’' on it):
Amstrad User February 1987
Pa^e IB
AMSTRAD PROFESSIONALS
FROM DIGITAL RESEARCH
,iSpw
Ibur Amstrad has
256k or 128k to play with.
The Amstrad 8256 and
6128 are extraordinary machines
with random access memory that
lifts them far above the home
computer norm.
Now Digital Research,creators of
the CP/M operating systems bundled
with these business calibre Amstrads,
offer serious users professional
program development powerand
applications portability via two high
level Digital Research languages:
PASCAL/MT+and C BASIC COMPILER.
Both la ng ua ges com e a s complete
packagesof standard Amstrad 3'"
disks with full documentation.
The most complete
PASCAL£49.95.
PASCAL/MT+ is full ISO standard
PASCAL, extended to provide a
comprehensive professional
programming environment for
industrial business and educational
applications.
Ifs faster, more versatiie^more
portable and easierto use in
sophisticated applications demanding
segmented development
The package includes a compiler
to generate relocatable object files; a
linkerto generate executablefilesfrom
compiler outputs; a run-time support
library covering transcendental
functions,machine interrupts and other
tasks; a disassembler and a symbolic
debugger.
As well as standard ISO numerics,
PASCAL/MT+ supports BCD and
floating point real numbers for
arithmetic precision. Special features
reduce program size and enhance I/O
capabilities PA$CAL/MT+ is the fully
implemented PASCAL you can start
with, stay with and never outgrow.
It seems a pity
just to play.
Ten times faster with
CBASIC £49.95.
CBASIC Compiler is a native code
com p i I erthat a 11 o ws sepa rate m odules
to be written, tested and combined to
create a complete program. And it
combines madiine code speed with
BASIC ease to produce programs that
execute eight to ten times fasterthan
the same interpreted programs.
A fully integ rated set of d evice
independent graphics statements
and functions permits direct output
to any graphics peripheral without
recompiling.
Extended precision
14-digit decimal
arithmetic ensures that
fractional parts of pound
amounts are exact and
ledgers balance to
the penny.
CBASIC Compiler
also supports integer
arithmetic, so you can
use integervariables to
increase execution speed.
Multiple line function capability
with multiple parameters provides
features found in block-structured
languages.Local variables can be
declared in a n MLR MLFfunctions may
be declared as external, belonging to
an entirely different program module.
Development Potential.
PASCAL/MT-h and CBASIC
Compiler ru n o n the Amstrad CPC 6128,
PCW8256,CPC 664 and CPC 464 with
DD-1 disk drive. Use of graphics with
CBASIC Compiler is only available on
CPC 6128 and PCW8256
The Amstrad Professionals from
Digital Research will allow you to
explore and exploit your Amstrad
computer's program development
potential to the full.
35^ Com
Ptier'
support for 30 days.
Amstrad Professionals from Digital Research.
Now Professionalism begins at home.
Qi<
:n<
To place an orde<, send cheque to: Amstrad Sales, Digital Reaaearch (UK)
Limited, OKfOrd House, Owfofd Street, N-ewbuiy, Berkshire RG13 1JB
Or telephone Newbury (0635) 38767 or 3B783. with ycHJr credit card
details Or coriitaft your local Amstrad dealer.
*FREE telephone support for 30 days following receipt of registration
card Thereafter a full year's on-line telephone support is available for
just £ 15.00 + VAT. Full details willi come wth your software
Prices include
Packaging, Postage and VAT
M DIGITAL
RESEARCH
The creators of CP M
d
■^S-:: ..:8S^'r. :&
LS&i.:
c•»5>^:::':co:
feature!
tfl ni>iri 1:qtqO^T HI^Ff
£1 Lfti* “"■
}| T4-!**
if Fa» nzfllfiB Tl> f11«F
^f HEJID' Al J J3VlLl!"f "t+lj
Ai tDta [POKE n,l
7f HEIT n
If IF tOtoSfaA THiEN PRINT ~Qh d«lf, I'u« 1
■ 1 crrclt. Hri the d4tA.'*'iEHD
«• CALL
Iflf BATA
114i DATA flU2f^f3jZfl,CJ^aR,?B,AF
Iff DATA «FFE,A1,J2,14^A4
Ilf data l^,6l,Bl,l^,1a,AA,i2,aE
14fl DATA A?,!J,*r,AJ,3J,f5,Ai,JJ
IlH DATA Ea,AZ<CA,1iB,3Z.1B,A4,Cl
Uf DATA CB^AS 11 ^ 1 T^ AB,tl
17f DATA fU32^ff,Ee,ffl,i:
L14 B1 BBflfl E F B #Z EAB lEBrf10f7i3SS 0Eli AfS A E f F 3
L1BB n BBB Z 3 T Ff f Jci T Ti 1A 3EiA E AB D112 E t A2 D BEf I
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1i0U000EA»00f A0005ll15;?EC«04tf01Ff«f BiA»i
1iaiS000flFCB1«EA'C43 2e4ZFA3CBeTB4f IJ^FFC^Bf
1BBU0001B520iB?l2Ff|IDBC:DieB'D1»BtS17E?B3f
1Bi1T000f |C0015Hi|-0'lJEFtDlB5SDZ52E4tD17Pi
1B B1 f Bf 0f A Bll Z F f c D1 B F E c 2B4« ZIZ E f C D1 BID E 2FB
1111DBBB E Z BSD D fill D ZC D1 FBAf A00 3 Jb£ C D- 1 F BATB
11 i I ABBBfl 132 F F [ D10 3 2 B2 F ECAa40 Z 32 F F C B1 f 5
1l»lB000EZBBlAB.40Z3?F FCb105AID5BCIB0S'IB'00;
1BB'1(B00flBB00E1f04BB|ABniBZCB?1BFLB«3ltDZ1AF
1 B B1BBBBA BC IBf A1B1 Z E 9D BT4 E 4 jF2 E Ac B F Bf BD Z 3FD
IIBIEBBBfElFBAI3B1CD21tAl3C0SEC02«E70414Ef
iat1f000«»3c0FEA'[:7BBUIB0flrCBF0i0e310 4C2ll
1BBZBB0001010Ap3.(4A2{:bZ1BPf ABAZI>?PZB44Af1p
1BBZ1BB053Z8HDS757'J2(SB72F42f J jfiAZBlf 4 ICA
TIB22BBB74A|dAZBZBl4SBZEl1E02DZDiPlA04E4AB
111»Z 700Bf »000f 0000 *000 00000 00010001000107^
]8100000000
Dumping the PC
All gone! End of Justin's pokey time,
and on to more little snippets for the
PCI 512, if you’ve got one* just to prove
the PC is catered for in this magazine.
The following is a tip for the Aim:
DOS +. It has no screen dump. It had
no screen dump, until now. You’ll still
have to use the MSDOS GRAPHICS
command for running off pretty pic¬
tures, but the following pokey-bijou-
ette will result in a text screen dump of
40 or SO columns, depending on what
screen you’ve got. Smart eh?
Type the HEX listing into RPED, call
it liOSPRT.HEX and put it on a disc
with DEBUG and a bit of room.
Remember; The CAPITALS are
important! To check for errors in the
listing, use the following under Dos+:
FTP NUL=DOSPRT*HEXrHE
The line with the error in it is the one
above the error message.
The following steps using DEBUG
have to be done in MSDOS, ’cos
DEBUG doesn’t like Dob+ either;
Insert disc with DEBUG on into
drive A on a freshly booted system.
Type DEBUG (the logical way to run it)
and cany on as below:
-NDOSPRT.HEX
-L
-NDOSPRTXOM
-W
DEBUG has this strange habit of
doubling the size of reconstituted HEX
files, but that needn’t worry you on this
little program, as it’s teenier than the
smallest available chunk of floppy
anyway*
Change of track again, more fre¬
quently than the 7*29 on the final
appmach to Liverpool Street. If you
have Mallard Basic programs that
you’ve written on the PCW or 6128
that use VT52 codes, most of these
should work under Dos+ with MAL-
LARD 86 with no conversion (es¬
pecially if you’re expecting an 80
column screen).
Technical terms
And now to round off an otherwise per¬
fect column, a little bit of explanation of
some of the more technical terms
sometimes found on the outside of com¬
puters:
No serviceable parts inside; // ttever
worked in the firnt pktce.
Mouse Port; A fine drink from the
Mousante region.
Floppy Disc: Overheated hard disc.
OnJOff Switch: The thing that feels like
a volume control.
Paper Feeder: Paper eater.
Mic Ear: Well known Jugoslavian
designer of cassette iViter/occs.
SUmPOWER
DISC(6128only). ..£19.95
ROM(2x16K). £19,95
MACHINE CODE
PROGRAMMERS
Slash your program developnoent
time by up to 50%!! Our Assembler
ru ns at approx. 24000 \ ines per
minute — as many as 8 times faster
than similar products. Over 30
commands in the Editor/Assembler
including Block Move, Block Delete,
Block Copy. Disc version uses Bark
switching to maintain file sizes.
Disassembled files can be edited
and re-assembled. Monitor has over
30 commands i nduding Sing le Step,
Conditional Breakpoints, Set CPU
Registers etc.
TOOLBOX & BASIC
EXTENSIONS
DISC ....... £19 *95 Please State
ROM. £19.95 464, 664 or 6128
"Bask Programmers —SAVE PRECIOUS
MEMORY SPACE!!" The disc versions of this
product include INSTALLATION, allowing you
to create your own files of routines selected
from TOOLBOX for use with particular
programs. This ensures maximum availability
of user memory. Rom versions, of course,
have 100% saving anyway! ALL versions
now provide a simple ASSEMBLER from
within BASIC.._
direct commands - CHARACTER.
COMPACT, EDITOR. FIND<fi( REPLACED, KILL.
MEDIT. PICTURE. SOUNDLAB. TIDYLIST. XREF.
PRINTER COMMANDS —CDUMP, DUMP
ECHO ON/OFF, IRON. LTRQFF.
GRAPHICS COMMANDS — CIRaE, TURTLE,
FILL. FRAME, GCOL, GRAPHICS PAPER.
GRAPH ICS PEN, MASK._
SCREEN COMMANDS — Double height or
underline. PAGE ON/OFF. SCREEN. VDU.
FILE COMMANDS - BAUD, INFO,
UNPROTECr,
OTHER COMMANDS - ASSEMBLE,
KEYBOARD, ROMS, TUNE.
NEW SUPERPOWER
ROM CARD £34.^5"^''
{Eight sockets, addressable 0 to 7, a id 1S, 1 & to
23 etc C^sed unit, plugged neatly to enpansion
port Through conneclior.)
ORIGINAL
ROM CARD £25
(CPC 464)
OTHER SUPERPOWER PRODUCTS
Disc User's Utilities
Mailing List/Club Membership program.
Disc (6128 only) and Rom versions priced
at E19.95 each. Send forfull details.
SUPERPOWER Produasforthe Amstrad
CPC series are available from dealers
nationwide AND:—
Micro Power Ltd.,
Northwood House,
North Street,
Leeds LS7 2 A A,
Tel.0S32 458800^
IZZD 434006
Tv*. ■
raiCiAivui>av
Amatrad Uaer February 1887
Page 15
GARWOOD SOFTWARE
^ Chelmsford (0245) 460788 (3 lines) Telex; 99468 GARWD G
Freepost: Garwood (Wholesale) Ltd, Freepost, BRENTWOOD, Essex, CMIS OBR
FREE 24 Page Colour Catalogue includes software for IBM PC & Compatible machines
Orders placed before 4pfii. despatched same day (subject to stock avaflablllty)
Software fPCWSZ56/BS1 2 & CPC6T2S| + TutoriaJi
PINANCtAd. MODBiLLJNtit
SUPei«lAl.C ?
CHECKER Z
SCRATCHPAD
WORD PnDCESSiNGl
ACCOUNTS^AVROLLr
£4?.95 AMSOFT ABCS IRom E1
E44.fH CAMSOFT [irom £49.95| Detail* on
E59.49 H.A.P Ifroffl E4^.pDf appUcatkwi
SAGE ffront £6^991
DATABASE JHANAGEMEHT iT^miS!
Hirrdw^re
Kistlircfn
PCWKM- (incJudes free ipfcadsheet Ef SS.Sf
database aid WiP nwiftriefge
uifEwane wonh £14.90(
PCW Tnd *tv9 (ntfietTj
NEW WORD 2
£69.00
CAMBA5E Z
£49.95
POCKET WORDSTAR
£49.95
CARD60X
£59.99
POCKET WORDSTAR DELUXE
£69.00
CONDOR 1
£59.99
LOCOMAIi
09.95
DBASE ir
£l19.fn
SFEClALc
DELTA
£99.95
flEXILABEi
BRAINSTORM
£24.95
£49,99
SAGE RfTRIEVE PR MAGIC OLEfl £69.95
MICflOFItE^MICROWORO [+ Hjillnr»fQe|l £49.95
MICROFILE TEMPLATES £29.95
ROTATE
WRrrr hand man
£24.9S
£29.95
COMMUNICATIONSi
Dcttib on
application
DAISTDISC
ET9.95
SAGE CHIT-CHAT RANGE rfrOffl iEA9 99(
PROGRAMMING LANGUACiESl
THAINBVGf
DR PA5CAL'MT+
£45.55
TOUCH 'N' GO
£34,99
DR CBASKI COMPfLEP
£49,95
(ANKEV C/afl^ C&urj# Of Two Finders
£14.95
CftAPHKS;
DR DRAW
£49.95
AUDIO TUTORtAlS
rmc (jOCOSCfipL Newwwid 2.
SLperc^lc 2, CPvM. and CBsskJ
£ 9.95
DR GRAPH
£49,95
GAMCSi
BOOHSi
^ CLOCK ChE^
£15.95
Step by Step GukJf ((? i'^joScrlpt
£4.95
BRIDGE PLAVEIf
£1995
El 49.^
Supplies
mirtar Standee
BO cekJiwt
ISJCOkimn
AinotsMl nnmiam
CPSUU tntvrfaa
£42.15
E44.»
£95.45
£57. Sa
Hk ftorage Boiiaii to S0| or S'fm^ (up tp 60|
Acce library fllee 3' (up to 7| 3 V?' (up td I0|
ScTHft nitar (PCW;i
DvSt C«v«r total PrUf B256^l2 or PC 151?
EUici leonor I0|:
Amsoft 3' OF? £M. iS Amsofr 3^ CF2-DD £54.50
3M DoutjJf sidecLDOUtile denany flBM formatf £20.70
fribbom; DMP1 (per 2 \ E9.» E5.50
EI9.W
£3.33
£lt.3e
EIT.4S
r<.WR2S6/aS\2 £5.50
tababt . r.MW 3'/j' * r^ht label TRACit IN Flip TOP OrSPfNSFR ' £5.75
' WOO i'iy i r Vft"' LABEL TRACK {2 ACROSSI- IN PLASTK TEAY - El 1.DO
COHT1HllO<l» LtfTWG PAPER
2d(» sheeo of 11' * 9'/*^ ]pt 60g Plain vd(n tmcTD perfQratKins.£l4.95
2000 ^^icets A4 I pL70^. Plain iMhdn mtaio pefforaitHxia I2P-P3
lOOO Sfwmol A4 ipt. 9Chg.HainM4inrnicrapertijfabcrti EI4.1B
SPECIAL OFFERt
£5 voucher with eveiy software order over £50
[£10 voucher over £100 or £25 voucher over £200)
Vouchers can be exchanged with any future order over E10.
ALL PRICES INCLUDE VAT S POSTAGE Special Offers Close 7th February
The Print Wizard
I49a High Street, Brentwood, Essex CM14 4SA
Te[; 0277 234416 Telex; 99463 GARWO G
Ail Your Requirements under one RoofI
SOFTWARE
As a Garwood Software Shop we stock a very wide
range of software for the CPC, PCW & PC range of
Computers including:
PCW
PC15T2
Word Rrocesilirg:
Word Processings
Wordstar ..
. £49*95
Wordstar T 5 f 2 .
.. £69.95
NewWord 2 ......
. £69.00
NewWord 2 .
.. £69,00
Locomai! ,.. .
, £39.95
PC Write ....
.. £Tf3.65
reaefsheet:
Spreadsheet:
Supercafe 2 ..
. £49.95
Cracker 3 ............
£69.00
Cracker 2 . .
. £49.00
Supercaic 3 ........
£69.95
Scratchpad Pfus .
. £59.99
VP Planner .
,. £99.00
itabase:
Database:
dBase ff ..
. £119.00
VP info ...
.. £99.00
Condor 1 ..
. £99,99
Cambase ..
,. £49.95
Camhase ..
£49.95
Condor .
.. £99.99
Cardbox ..
. £59.99
Cardbox .............
.. £59.99
Sage Retrieve .
. £69.95
Retrieve ...
£99,99
HARDWARE |
SineJair Spectrum (with gift pack jncfLiding
six games S joystick I .... £J5^.W
CPC 464 fwfth colour monitor
& free games pack) ....... £299.95
CPC 612S (with colour monitor) .... £399.95
PCW 6256 (free eJataoase spreadsheet & w/p
software worth £99.90) .. £458.85
PCW 6512 ....... £573.85
PC 1512 [suhject to availability) from . £458.85
Plus Modems, Disc Drives, Interfaces and a
wide range of Cassette & Disc based Games
Software.
SUPPLIES
PHOTOTYPESETTING SERVICES;
3'^ 3 V 2 " & 5 "V Discs - Ribbons - Labels.
Stockists for Acco and other general &
commercial stationery products,
We specialise In printing continuous
and general stationery*
Frme tfuotatiorf on mfuett
We can accept copy on disc from a wide range of word-processors or download your copy direa if you have a modem link.
Corporate discounts negotiated. Automatic credit facilities for government or educational bodies.
Page 16
Ametrad User February 1987
Gmiu
A
Triviat Pursuit Domark
Quirky questions and polished presentation give you as many
endless hours of fun as ihe boerd game.
2
100
W
Comp, Hits 10 Vol 3 Beau Joiiy
All your favourites on one tape. Make a good birthday present.
1
95
---- ^
Jk
Bomb Scare Firebird
'i 1 ' 1 lii'i'i iinHniau iliTtiwiim' '" "T'l'nT ifwi ■itn i
3D game in the alien ® rnould. Bit of a bore unless you are a die
hard cartographer.
6
71
1
w;
Five Star Games Beau Joffy
Goad bargain compilatian ^een -an TV. I'daal first buy for the
new computer user. Won hi the £9.95 for S pindiizzy al one.
Tomahawk Digital Integration
Booty firebird
oe
64
Pun helicopter flight ^irnulefion. Plenty af things tO shao! With
strailegy if you want it.
62
■jLL.
A golden oldie on the Spaccy but new to the Amstrad. Pirates and
treasure platforms game.
ne
60
[m
They Sold A Million (3) Hit Squad
Fighter Piloh Ram bo, Kung Fu Master and Ghostbusters ga to
make up this compilation of past classics.
ne
60
Ikari Warriors Fiite
Excellent arcade conversian. Commandn-stylB with two players
working together to give twice the firepower.
ne
56
k---- 1
180 Mastertronic
Digital dentio, a budget game based on the non-intoirieating
bar-room skill.
ne
47
F 1
5 A Side Soccer Mastertronic
Lead your team to victory in this all action sports simulation
8
43
u
Konami's Coin Op Hits imagine
Forget the arcades. Try this compiletion of Gre^n Beret, Ping-
Pong, Hypersporta, Mikie and the amaring Vie Ar Kung-Fu.
ne
41
IT
Thrust Firebird
Simple and clever space game. A cross between Asteroids and
Lunar Lander,
1
38
m
Last V8 Mastertronic
Drive a big macho Chevy round the bends. Overhead view. Quite
fun.
17
37
XenoA'nT
Hi Tech, twenty first century ping pong from one of the oldest
names in software, now part of APS.
ne
36
Scooby Doo Flite
A long time in the making Elite scrapped the original design but
the result is very good. Slick sprites and fun.
ne
32
m
i| ---- 1 1 1 1 ■ ■ ■ 1 II ■ ...
Infiltrator Midscape/US Goid
Usual American stuff about saving the world with spies an' stuff.
Looks a bit like Skyfox.
ffie
30
Batman Ocean
The Caped Crusader flies again. The 3D game which showed that
you can teach an old program new trkks.
re
29
m
Speed King Mastertronic
Excellent high speed action motorcycle racing game with large
sprites-
9
27
a
I
r — - -------—-— --
Light Force FTL
Excellent graphicE and simple to play zap the aliens game. |
i7 1
25
Iff
Glider Rider Quicksifva
Attack an enemy base with the aid of a flying motorbike/hang;
glider. Novel 3D game.
18
23
Non-mover
Up
Down New entry JANUARY 1987
Chart compiled by
G all u p/M i croScope
Amstrad User February 1SS7
Page 17
256K SILICON DISC oo o o o o
o This is the fastest storage
systenn auailaWe for Arrstrad
CPC compuiers and is comp’
atible with CPM 2,2. CPM+
and all DK'Tronics peripherals
induding the 64K/256K
memory expansions. When
used with CPM+ and our
256K memory the edition disc
capacity is a rnassive 442K (more than the POA/ 8512
Ram Disc). It automatically logs on as drive B or drive C
in two drive systems and does not require extra power
supply.
Q The 256K Silicon Disc is designed to be used with at
least one normal disc drive attached. When fitted the
directory uses 2< thus leaving 254K for storage, over 70K
more than the normal discs.
o Data and programs can be exchanged between the
Silicon Disc and a normal disc, application programs can then
work on the data at vastly Increased speed especially on
systems with only one normal drive,
Q Software is contained in an expansion ROM and there are
two environments in which the Silicon Disc be used,
BASIC under AMSDOS where all the normal AMSD05
commands are fully supported LOAD, SAVE, MERGE, GAT etc
and within CP/M 2.2 CP/M+ where commercial programs are
designed to run on multi drive systems,
£99.95 including VAT (464 and 6l2S)
64Kand 256K mmmM t / / /
MEMORY EXPANSIONS
m The mernory expansions
increase the Amstrad 464's
internal memory to give a total
of 12SK or 320K. The 621's
memory is increased to 320i<.
It is compatible with all
DK'Tronics peripherals includ¬
ing the 256K Silicon Disc
m It is supplied with bank
switching RSX software (464 software on cassette 6128
on disc.
# The software adds some BASIC commands which makes
it possible to use the second 64K (or 3rd or 4th and 5th
in the case of 256K1 for storage of screens, windows,
graphics and basic arrays. This ability means that you can
write much larger basic programs and sophisticated programs
that use pull-down menus with ease,
m With an expanision fitted on the 464 it then has the same
memory configuration as the CPC 6128. It will then runi
CPM-e with its massive 61K T.PA area, opening up an even
larger software base to 464 users, When using either of the
expansions with CPM 2.2 on the 464 and 6128 computer
the T,P,A. is increased to 61K.
m The RAM is accessed by means of bank switching using a
single I/O port. Memory is actually switched in and out of the
54kZS0 address space in T6K sub blocks (as are the ROMS).
The port determines which particular combinations of the
original four 16K sub blocks and any new sub blocks from
the expansion RAM will occupy the &4K address space at
any time. All of this switching is done automatically by the
software supplied.
The contents of the expansion RAM are retained if the
computer is reset and if the RAM is used for machine code
the contents will remain even if the computer crashes.
64K £49.95 including VAT (464 only)
256K £99.95 including VAT (464 and 6128)
L / E /A / P
FROM F
DKTronics have produced this
enlarge the potential of the 46^ ^
and have been designed to coi’P
BEHIND
ij5 fringe of powerful peripherals to
45Z and 6128 Amstrad Computers
(-ofiplinnent their style and colour.
GRAPHICS LIGHT PEN
The sophisticated graphics
package includes a colour
palette, nudge control for one
pixel accuracy, brush choice,
text handling and user defined
characters.
It can magnify, shrink,
colour fill and create circles,
rectangles, lines and curves.
..--Cornplex pctures can be easily edited at pixel level using
a scratch pad which is magnified to the full screen
There is picture storage and retrieval, and a pen callibration
utility and there is also an Amstrad/Epson compatible printer
dump utility supplied on cassette.
There is a cassette version for the 464 and a ROM
version for the 464 and 6128.
Cassette £19.95 including VAT (464 only)
ROM £29.95 including VAT (464 and 6128)
SPEECH SYNTHESISER""' ^ ^
■. ,^Thi5 simple to use speech
synthesiser includes a powerful
stereo amplifier and two high
quality speakers which greatly
improves the sound quality of
the internal mono speaker.
■« It uses the popular SPO/256
speech chip and has an almost
. infinite vocabulary.
/;>.« It is supplied with a text to speech converter software
for ease of speech output creation. Everything you wish to be
spoken is entered in normal english without special control
. codes or characters making it extremely easy to use.
-K The voicing of the words is completely user transparent
and the computer can carry on its normal running of a
program whilst the chip is talking. The speech output from
the SPO/256 is mono and directed to both speakers.
There is a cassette version for the 464 and a ROM
version for both the 464 and 6128.
Cassette £29.95 including VAT (464 only)
ROM £39.95 including VAT (464 and 6128)
HOW TO ORDER
DK'Tronics products are available in all good computer
stores but may be obtained by completing the order form
below and returning it to DKTromcs or by telephoning and
quoting your Barclaycard or Access number.
Orders are normally despatched within 24 hours and if
you have any further queries concerning our products do not
hesitate to give us a ring or send us a large stamped
addressed envelope for our latest free 84 page technical
manual covering our Am<strad produa range.
cl?tPonics
POWER BEHIND YOUR AMSTRAD
DKTromcs Limited
Gofleston, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk NR31 6BE.
Phone 0493 602926 (24 hours). Telex 975408.
O Please »nd me
O rtame Signed
Q. AddirtiS
Of debrt. my Ba*U9ytard/Acc«j number
CP.'M+ IS a registered traownark of Diijiiel Research Iru
GAME t
7"
. z jya ^
...
..V.- - ' 'IltjS:" - ■■■ - ?j!3 - fio
■ -^oDo:, • -,.
Egg-,:-
'■1 . 11 ; I
•V:£&.
■:■:■:■: ■. v .■ / oy, •* v ■• ■•■-■ •■■■■■ V
■GSOAi
JiUm
A two player game for CPC
computers by Kevin Freeman
“1 challenge you to a duel, a fight to
the death with longswordH^
“No — not swordA**.
“Guns? Pistols? Blunderbusses?”
“No - no firearm A**.
“Crossbow? Longbow? Mace?”
“iVo - too old fushinit^d^.
“What thenr
“Tank* - well armedf well
armoured tanks**.
Take on your friends in this two
player type-in* Drive tanks around
a battlefield without exposing
yourself but still he bold enough to
take atm and fire*
Combat
K.Fre?Bin
i
IIINI i-1
iraeoL uter 2^6:aEHOii'r mtf
iTfAfifll AFTEft 3S
.OUTE »,10:PR1NT ''COSttAt"
locate 5j7:PfllHT"pL€a?e wait
igOSlFB 1^34
bin
S0UN& = ®
«glt&ER #
I SESTORE &40
I 'stiow scresn
I FOR V=1 T»
TS* fCfl !(^f 7^
^10 Jr3d(](^y]=S
nfi;t k
?3i NEXT f
^viriiJjtes
250 1J=£:yf1)=ll;rfi)i0
m xi2Ui9:yU)^i:rili=9
m 4C?]=19jb(£)*^:g(23=^
S9I 'SF»nE,2,j8,3:,„j,;
ii9 fceyprfsj
-n
Page 20
Amstrad User February 1987
■m^ssss^
GAME
□
351 D'H fireUl tiOTO J50^97(!
540 'tSiiah ^ keybQard
3Sj IF iiii£En6?>=0 m kM)< 19 THEH di=1
:dy=0:t=lt6t)SW0 64l:t<>T0 t00
34i IF INkElft6^) = 0 *Nb «C1>>1 THEN dx = -1
:ay=0:s=?tGOiUB 640:6OTO ^00
170 IF INKETf(.6^'J = 0 ANb ¥(1>>1 THEN (li=#:
dy=-1;s=ltGOJU0 iiBEtOTU *00
iS0 If IN1CEY!n)=0 >N& ¥<1X11 fHEH d!l=0
;jycl:SIJIUB t’iBtCOTO *0®
590 IF lNltEYU71^# AND fired)*! THEN i-
IlSOSUB !2J#
400 ON firet?) SOTQ 420,980
410 'tint ? jflTStick
m IF iiti;iif(75)-0 Awti thin dx-l
:dp0:s-5:«SU6' fi40:eftTO 470
41fl [F IllKET'C74) = 0 AHb (ti)’! THEN ix=-1i
= 640:iOTO 470
440 IF IllKetC72)^0 kWe THEN
dy«-1:«*B:e0SUB 6*0:4OTO 470
451 IF IHKEYt71)-0 ANb y(2)<11 THEN dK=0
:dy*1ts=7jG(3iyB ■6*0:ftf)'TO 4^0
440 IF lNICET(74j = 0 *Nb THEN f =
Z-Ob^tlB U!0
470 IF rClXI# AND- r(2)<1# THEN 310
450 LKATE 5,21tPRiNT "tJink «ins";
490 IF f{t3=1» then f-1 ELSE f=2
7S0 IF s(f>=xt+3 and bH)^yd) AND od)^
i 1HEH RETURN
760 SOUNb n,l000'^5''0'^'^*'^ ^
770
780 liPBnt,dd)-1l*2,(ydXd*2,*
790 griaiad),b(fl>=^l
800 ^ridtidl^yET))-?
MB a(f)-xn:tjd) = ¥£fl:o(Tl=5
820 RETURN
550 'g-crten Uyg-ut
840 D-ATk isiiailjaaaaaajaijaii
B50 DATA jrrrTtrrrrrrrrfPrarJ
S60 bATA afprarrrraarrarrrrra
570 DATA srasrrrr-rBrrrarrrtra
584 OITA afrrrrrarrrrrfBirrra
690 bATI irrrrprraarrrrffrnri
900 tlTA jfMrrrtrrrfrTrrrrra
910 bATI arrrarrarraaarfarrra
M#6E
(SPRITC,(zUJ-l)*2,£v(f).
1)*Z
,9 I
T07e
1#S0
IF fire<f)i2 THEN SflSUB 1
110
1090
■ON f 6070 40#,471
1100
'possible bit
^ 1110
IF *f3-f)0;{f
aCi-
■fJOfl
ffXOlff) TNEN RETURN
112#
IF y(3-0o¥{f)tdv(fj and
bih
1 )<>h
ffXdvff) TJfIN RETURN
111#
border 13H
1140
SOUND f,1#0#,l0,1S,„P0
115#
r(f)=rlfj+1
1160
fire(f)i1
1T7#
ISPRI7Eifj(f3-T)e2,(v(f
)*2,
9
1110
LOCATE 5,25;J>R1nt rt1)j
119#
LOCATE !4,25:Pfl|NT r(2);
1?#0
eORPER 0
1210
RETURN
1220
'jbgt direction
1230
■l<fJ-0
1240
1250 dr(fJ=dAdJ
126# (f(f) = yIO
1270 dvffj-dydj
121# f
ire(f)s2
S00 LOCATE 9,2SjPRInt f;
510 FOR 1 = 1 TO 200iiN£j[r
S20 LOCATE 1,2SjPRInT" p to
play
33 E
NHILE INICET£27)<¥0-y£ND
540
fOH TO 1
550
1 SPRITE,taff?-T)*2,(bCIJ-1)»
2,off)
560
0rid(x(f)^y(f
570
mi
5 a#
FOR f=l TO 2
590
IF firetf)^2 THEN ISPRITE,(g
(f)-1J»2
6#0
NfTT
610
LOCATE 1,2'5:PR]nT STftlNSfC20,
rl2);
620
SOTD 25#
630
'■flve tanks
64#
If S>4 THEN ELSE f=1
650
IF fjrff3.f3=i Then 65#
66#
ff=f;IF f=1 then fi? itiE t=i
670
6as#B 11l0:f=ff
681
If Or-idfilf)tifj,y(fjt(jyJ<10 THEN R£T
U5N
690
SOUND f,1##0,5,f1,,,5*f
70#
dxdJsdjfjdyd )=dy
710
tff)=jlf]fdxff):y(f)=y(f)
72#
IF ffre(3’fj=l THEN 750
730
ff=fjrF fzl the# f=2 else f-1
740 COSCIB t11#;f = ff
92# DATA ifrrrraarr3rP'’rrsrrs
9J0 bATI arrtrrrrrTarrrrasrTl
940 bITA ararrrrpprprrrtrrrra
950 DATA iaaSia»flaaBaaA9iA*9ii
9^0 ' fire/»ove sTiQt
9Ti f=1:tOTO 990
Tm » »«>
OTO 1090
;;;; „ t.e. ;**;
1030 IF ydX0 THEN SOUND f ,200#.2T■
10-K(f)=1:HOTO 1^5#
list
This is one of hundr4ld* of
praQrams now available
Free for downloading on
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2«80 DATA 9C2ai46C9t2e#07baE00##7D,960
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2171 DATA 12,24,19,21,7,3,6,13
2150 DATA 16,8,11,2,70^^9^25,0
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,36
.0
ACU
Amatrad User February ltl87
Page 21
WlliUH^AK£ YOU A
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And our price includes VAT and FREE DELIVERY.
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Getting organised couldn't be easier. Phone us on
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ACU 2/87
I
I
1
3
Bill Headly took some simple
arithmetic, threw it together
and ended up with some very
YeSt Prime Number? Chances are that
when you were at school maths left
you cold. IPs sad to say that for most
people mathematics is a half-
remembered bunch of incomprehen¬
sible formulae.
Perhaps it's the way it's taught^ per¬
haps it's just what everyone expects
from such an abstract subject.
Whatever the reason^ mathematics as
a living language that both describes
and explains much of our world has
largely been ignored.
But now there are computers. Com¬
puters are mathematical beasts, living,
breathing and dreaming numbers. The
latest generation of cheap home micros,
like the CPCs, can also show numbers
and the way they work in some stun¬
ning ways.
For the first time, the non-
mathenuitical person can explore the
complexities of simple numbers, with
very little bard mental slog and very
nearly insUiint results.
It might seem surprising, but there
are mathematical byways which have
never been given any attention by
professional mathematicians and there
are discoveries waiting for the keen
amateur. Especially one aided and
abetted by a computer.
Mathematics and micros have usu¬
ally been linked in the computer press
by little pus!;zles and pure number-
bashing exercises involving Prime
Numbers.
Not this time. In the best Blue Peter
tradition, w'o'll tiike a couple of simple
ideas, a sriddgeoii of Basic and produce
some fairly fantastic results on your
Amstrad User February 1987
pretty patterns
very own monitor.
Let's start off with a couple of
concepts (if you’re not too keen on the
whyS:, then run on ahead and type in a
listing. While it's running, come back
and browse).
Your computer screen is really just a
rectangle filled with dot45. Depending on
which dots get turned on and when,
almost anything can be drawn. The
characters of a word processor or the
spaceships in a shoot-em-up are two
complex examples.
Cirdea and lines are much simpler
and have the benefit of being simple to
describe using a little mathematics.
We’ll be using both circles and points.
What the computer will do is take a
lx>xful of points on the screen (the sort
of thing maths addicts call a set) and
for each of them find out if there’s a
circle in the vicinity that would have
that point on its circumference. If there
is, we colour the point appropriately. If
not, we leave it blank.
Each point in the set we're looking at
has a position inside the box. This is
described by two numbers correspon¬
ding to the distance of the point trom
the left hand side of the screen and the
distance from the bottom.
For reasons lost in the mists of math¬
ematical time, the distance across is
called the x coordinate, and that up the
y. A point 50 points aw^ay from the left
hand side and 43 points up from the
bottom is the point 50,43.
To persuade a computer to come up
with two numbers is really rather
simple. -Just give it the lowest and
highest values for the two numbers in
FOR . . . NEXT loops and it'll give you
everything in between.
So weVe got our numbers. How do we
tell whether they belong to a circle and
what colour to make them?
One of the little bits of mathematics
which describes a circle is that for all
the points on the circumference, x
times X plus y times y equals a number.
It doesn't matter too much what the
number is, but for any particular circle
it's always the same. Different circles
have different numbers.
We’ll use the number we get from x
times X plus y times y to set the colour.
As the number will be too big Itj use
directly, the most effective way will be
to see if there are any small numbers it
divides into exactly and set the colour
accordingly.
And so to the program itself. As it's
Page 23
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DATABASE SOTTWARE
I Please send TTierPtanlt CPC on tape £14.> disc££,l9.9S'»{ )
I Planit PCW on disc £24.95 )
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FEATURE
printed, it will only cover a small area
of the screen. This is to speed things up
a little.
Given that it only covers about a
tenth of the screen, the program still
has to generate, check and plot some
2,500 points. This takes some time,
even for the speedy Basics found in
Amstrad computers.
However^ after youVe seen a few
stunning examples of swirling concen¬
tricity, you'll no doubt want to fill your
entire screen with a pattern. Do this by
increasing the values of BREADTH
and WIDTH, but youll have to have
patience!
When you run the program, itll ask
you for three numbers. The first two
are the bottom left hand comer of the
set of points to look at (mathematically,
that ia. It will always be plotted in the
same place on screen). Good numbers
to try are in the range —10 to —100
apiece.
Then there^s the distance. Effec¬
tively, this is the area of the set you
manage to cram into the screen. A
small number (leas than 20) for the
distance will give the effect of looking
very closely at a part of the pattern.
Bigger values (200 or 300) give a
' P*trern Profra« PC1512
* with SASIC
“ by Ruipiert Coodwlnj
USER SPACE IBfl
CIS
IMPUT ''Cornwf c^ard i na I e s”J • >6
IHPUT "Pi ttance'^jd
FOR 1>K Tiy 10fl SfEP i
fQR j=1 TO 1te
h( = a + (d*-i/1i0S
y=bt<d*i/10S3
PL.OT i+30;j+30 COLdUR product n€D S
NEKT i
NEKT i
Type this into your PC1512 * *» and
II RED PaE EtP-rtf.
?t r«r crc
RE« i,r tijpwfi 1««»
4l R1!PE 1
;i iRi: «,*
Al LEf far*id-th.111.1
T| LET fatlihttlSt
Al IHIPlJT "CdfEli-r fddf
9-1 JHtUI
li'l CLS
Hi fait h-i Tp. t'tid'th tTiR j
Ul rot Ji1 TD- hilght STEP ;
ISi LET Reepdii + 'Ct't/faf i-fadElIl
1( T jf 5-q rit* { I Ik j / Fi 1 i B h t )
III LET prD4]uctaHC[i-rda!iidrd*yc.epd>p‘iE«pd
tfai LE T -I h p-r-g-d ■ |i T ^ [»r p4u< ^ I
lEi TOR tit Td R
111 ET liAtR^Ad/tilHTT (iv'Ep.^pd./E 3 Tlifu LET gpLi t-1
Iti HlRt t
211 PLOT 1*211,J+2RR,(frl,
Ell hIrT J
E?l llERT 1
is into your CPC
broader overview of the patterns,
showing the grander themes. A good
place to start with is values of —iO and
-30 for the corner, and 80 for the
distance. But try varying everything.
There are surprises aplenty.
CPC owners might like to try
mnning the program in other modes.
This is a good excuse to experiment.
For starters, you'll have to change the 4
in line 160 to however many colours
there are in your mode.
Other modifications should suggest
themsedves as the results are produced.
PC owners can change the number
after the MOD operator in the PLOT
line (from 2 to 16) to give a different
number of colours in the pattern.
This sort of simple program is often a
good place to start to really learn a lan¬
guage - trying different ways to speed
up the plotting process or give even
more spectacular results.
Those who are just becoming fluent
in machine code should find a
homegrown version of this program a
productive exercise indeed.
If you are intrigued by the patterns
that you and your micro produce, youH
probably find the Computer Recre¬
ations article in the September 19&6 Sci¬
entific American magazine (t he basis
for this article) most enjoyable.^
ACU
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Amstrad User February 1987
Page 25
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Page 26
Amstrad User February IS87
SEEK AND YE
SHALL FIND...
Into adventures with Bil
Adventurer s
Guide
Ura:r.^, .: |
FEATURE I
As a long time fan of the author Dick Francis^ J
started to play Twice Shy with some uncertainty. All
too often the film (or computer game) of the book does
not come up to the same standards you perceived
when you read the original. I’m pleased to report that
the way the program has been written by the Ramjam
Corporation is sufficiontly novel to take away many of
my doubts.
The instructions are fairly long but give you very
few clues about the aim of the adventure or any idea
whatsoever about what you arc expected to achieve. I
found that having read the book gave me a head start,
but although I knew the probable sequence of events
it still remained for me to initiate other characters^
reactions for those events to take place, leaving me
with many puzzles to solve.
You play the part of a physics teacher, Johnathan
Derry. He is a first class shot and is a member of the
British Rifle Team. He has also been known to use an
airgun as a teaching aid to get the attention from his
class of naturally lively schoolboys.
Johnathan is given some cassette tapes and it is up
to you to find out their significance. TTiere are hints
that they form part of a system to make a man rich by
betting on horses. You must find out what to do,
where and w^hen.
The adventure starts in Johnathan^s house in the
suburbs to the west of London. From here you travel
around the country in his rather dusty Peugeot to find
other critical locations where more information may
be learnt to help you on your way.
Mapping is crucial. Travelling around the streets
will lead you to Johnathan's school, the local high
street and the M25 motorway. Motorway travel is
quick and will take you to other interesting places.
Just remember that motorways are not the place to
cross from left to right - there is alvirays a central
reservation.
It is best to draw a Voad map' and then separate
small maps for the groups of locations you find along
the route. Trying to draw a coherent continuous map
will tax your topography and require a great deal of
work with an eraser.
Gas guzzling
Anyone driving a car will know all too well that it
requires feeding at regular intervals. There is a local
petrol station, so use it. Of course as in real life getting
petrol costs money. Among all your other problems is
the need to ensure that Johnathan has an adequate
supply of ready cash.
This brings us to the second program on the reverse
side of the cassette. It can be run as a separate pro¬
gram or accessed as part of the adventure program.
There is one location in the adventure that des¬
cribes the entrance to the racecourse at Newmarket.
At this point you can decide to go for a day at the
races. Any money won here can be added to the
amount you are already carrying.
The racing program is simplistic and is very similiar
to an old ZX Spectrum program called Derby Day.
You are given the runners in the next race and horses^
odds. You place your bets and then watch the horses
race across the screen to the winning post. Win, and
your winnings are credited to you. Lose and try again.
The racing program is good fun, especially for the
younger members of the family, but does not really
add a great deal to the adventure, other than giving
your overheated brain a short rest from deciding what
to do next.
There are three crucial parts to solving this adven¬
ture. One, as is often the case, is to draw accurate
maps of the different locations. Second, you must talk
27
FEATURE I
to the right people at the right time and finally you
must get the program to understand you.
This latter point merges with the second. The
vocabulary does not appear to be very large and
certain actions have to be expres&ed in the way the
program wants rather than the way it might be
natural to approach them.
Limited parser
The first inclination of this is when you hear a tele¬
phone ringing. The display uses the word telephone
but ANSWER TELEPHONE gets the response “You
canT”. GET TELEPHONE does not work either, you
must enter ANSWER PHONE. A small point but the
beginning of a suspicion that conversing with the
computer may hold a few problems.
When your trusty Peugeot needs petrol you can
visit the garage - simple, but BUY PETROL will not
get you anyvrhere. What is needed this time is
something like SAY TO THE GARAGE HAND “FILL
CAR".
Many games suffer from this type of restriction* but
what makes it worse in this case is that you must talk
to some of the other characters to initiate further
stages of the game.
Having found that your commands need to be so
specific and thinking that you know who to talk to but
finding that you gel no sensible responses can easily
cause extreme frustration as you do not know
whether it is your input command or your logic that is
at fault.
This is really a major drawback to what is a clever
interpretation of a good novel. I have found the game
intriguing and enjoyable, partly 1 have to admit
because of my We of Dick Francis’ books. Reading the
book first will certainly give you a better chance at
understanding the game ~ and with a bit of luck youT
become another fan of the author.
The approach is novel and will tax your imagination
- providing you have the patience to overcome the
drawbacks of vocabulary and parser.
I am not a complete fan of those games that offer
incredible parsers that will understand such involved
sentences as GET THE KEY FROM MY POCKET
AND UNLOCK THE CASTLE DOOR THEN USE
THE OTHER KEY TO OPEN THE SMALL BRONZE
CASKET, but 1 do feel that you should not have to
spend too much time in making a program
understand what you know to be the correct action.
Twice Shy is well worth reading and the adventure
will add to your pleasure. Just do not expect it to
understand everything you say the first time round.
The devil within the PCW
Not only disc only but
PCW only too!
A program raved about for the Atari ST and Commo¬
dore 64/128 is now available for the Amstrad PCW -
“The Pawn"
Written by Magnetic Scrolls and distibuted by
Rainbird Software* The Pawn has received many
accolades for its graphics and its command inter¬
preter. The PCW version lives up to its predecessors,
and although the graphics are by necessity only in
green and black they are still better than anything
else I have seen on this machine.
The adventure is a mixture of ancient and modern,
a land where dwarves and magicians still live mixed
in with thermo nuclear devices and oblique references
to television. It is a delightful mixture of classic
adventure and modern satire.
The program makes much use of the disc and some
disc changing is necessary at times. The graphics are
excellent and the pictures nearly fill the screen.
F’ortunately you can scroll the picture up to allow
plenty of room beneath for the long and detailed
textual descriptions that are another hallmark of this
game.
Fairly comprehensive editing commands are
becoming more common nowadays, especially as input
commands of greater complexity are accepted and
acted upon. Having just typed in a string of
commands, you will soon get frustrated if you have
made a simple spelling mistake and then have to type
ever 3 rthing in again.
The Pawn has a most useful editing facility,
allowing the calling back of your last command for
re-editing. Communicating with the game is easy as
Page 28
Amstrad User Febmary 1987
FEATURE I
(
I
!
i
I
I
there is a large vocabulary and the parser recognises
many different ways of saying the same thing.
Smart listener
The parser is quite the most intelligent I have come
across and an example given in the instructions shows
that it will understand such an involved command as
GET ALL EXCEPT THE CASES BUT NOT THE
VIOLIN CASE THEN KILL THE MAN EATING
SHREW WITH THE CONTENTS OF THE VIOLIN
CASE.
For all that the parser seems so friendly, do not
assume that is working solely for you. You must still
retain the true adventure’s cynical attitude and
double check your surroundings. Not all is seen at a
first glance, and just because you have felt in your
pockets, do not assume there is nothing there except a
pocket
In several locations you must talk to characters you
meet. As with other commands issued this is easy to
accomplish. Whether you ask the right questions is
another story!
If you get stuck a number of hints given may help
you* They are in the form of a series of two character
blocks: NB ZO ZX B7 NH 78 OO GD. Type in HINT;
followed by this code. There are several sets of code for
each likely problem, the first often gets a flippant
response; the third is usually quite useful*
A couple of these codes are too long for the input
buffer of the PCW to accept (the Atari ST has a larger
buffer). Fortunately neither is of vital importance, so
do not get all worked up when you find them.
Draw your maps with care, as movement from one
location to another is not always quite as you would
expect it to be. Save your game position regularly and
examine everything very carefully.
A thoroughly recommended game, with a true
adventure dressed up in the most modern mixture of
programming technique and offbeat humour.
Happy New Year
It is now 1987. The cover date of this magazine may
read February, but it is still the first issue out this
year. Should we look at 1986 and learn from what is
past? All the letters 1 have had seem to appreciate the
straightforward and honest appraisal of reviews but
there is an underlying hint that you would like more
hints and clues to many adventures*
We do operate our Help League, which offers a
direct Help line to those in need. It sometimes takes
some time for you to get an answer, simply because of
the post first going to the Amstrad User offices and
then having to be posted on to me and possibly forwar-
ded again to other members of the Ijeague,
cryptic form for you to work out. Which would you
prefer - write and tell us!
To start the ball rolling here are a some cryptic
clues from Joan Pancott of Dorset:
Dungeon Adventure; 1) If a siren you are
nearing, a poppy pod will stop you hearing* 2) Never
fear if you meet a black sphere, just find its brother
and you won’t see another,
Return to Eden r 1) Platforms are a weighty prob¬
lem, so six to the south and you to the north. 2) You
can bet it is six of one or half a dozen of the other.
Joan has solved a number of adventures and seems
to thrive on the requests for help on games she has
finished. Her latest adventures finished are: The Price
of Magik, Seas of Blood, Emerald Isle, Brawn Free,
Qor, The Boggit and Dungeon Adventure. If you are
stuck on any of these, her telephone number is 0305
784155.
More cryptic clues came from Barry Newell of
Essex:
Jewels of Babylon: 1) The lion likes seafood. 2)
The crocodile does not like bangs. 3) The cannibals
cannot measure time very well* 4) Test the crab’s
hearing.
Message from Andromeda; 1) It is rude to point
in the mirrored room. 2) The plants need a gardener,
3) Give the skeleton a decent grave, you may get
something in the process. 4) Beam me up Scotty!
Do you have a few hints that you feel will help other
adventurers? If so, send them in and we^l see what we
can use* This column is always open to suggestions
(well, some suggestions anyway!) so let me know if
you want to see something special, either a review or a
how to do it section.
I have always been a little dubious of the indis¬
criminate hints and clues offered in magazines, as
they cannot ever be up to date for the person
originally requesting help.
There is often a lead time of up to two months
between the copy for this column and its eventual
publication, and with the best will in the world one
cannot improve on that a great deal.
But if you the reader want more clues we will try to
provide them. They can appear in several guises, i
plain English, written in a simple code or written in
Amstrad User February 1987
Page 29
L
t
HOME Ortv>1F*jTLR ^H-T V^
FOUR
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in this NEW
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feature!
For various reasons people become dis¬
satisfied with off-the-shelf applications
for their PCs. Maybe a feeling of “1
could do better than that”^ or some
implacable barrier placed between
them and what they want to do by a
design fundamental of the application.
Or maybe imaginative users just
want to explore the capabilities of their
computer. What they need is a lan¬
guage.
The most popular one for home
computers is undoubtedly Basic. The
lower end games computers invariably
come with a version built-in, and most
PCs come with a dialect on disc for free.
The Amstrad PC 1512 has Locomotivc^s
Basic 2 stashed away on one of the
system discs.
But these free Basics have
drawbacks. Sometimes they’re
machine specific, so if you change your
PC, or want to sell your programs to
other users, you have a problem,
Invariably they’re interpreted, which
means theyVe translated, checked and
run a bit at a time. This slows business
down no end. But you can always go
out and buy a better Basic.
Compatibility
ZRasic claims to overcome these
stubborn problems and to be that
better Basic. For starters, there^s a
version for almost every machine ever
to cross the Big Pond - it^s an American
product - and one for our very own
Amstrad PC. So you can write a pro¬
gram on a PC and it can be copied
across to a CP/M machine, an Apple 11,
even a Macintosh, tosh. All the
graphics, all the disc commands, all the
printer handling is the same in every
machine.
ZBasic^s other claim to your cheque¬
book is the fact that it’s a compiler. This
means that the t'Omputer spends some
time at first checking the program and
translating it into machine code. Then
it runs the machine code.
As you then have a copy of the
machine code version, the next time
you want to run your program you
donT have to check and translate.
Everything goes much faster.
But how does ZBasic do the job?
BASIC
WITH A
latter two with a fill option), and mouse
support, as well as the traditional plot
commands.
They’ve even invented a new math¬
ematical measurement of angle, the
BRAD. You might know that there are
3&0 degrees, and 2 pi radians around a
circle’s circumference. There are 256
BRADs. It’s not just trigonometrical
tomfoolery either, as it helps to keep
speed up. There are some nice’nTast
SINs and COSs too.
Many modes
Rupert Goodwins
explores a less
exotic alternative to
Basic 2 on the PC1512
Unusually for a compiler, it looks to the
user like an interpreter {confused?).
Compilers tend to have a blunder¬
buss approach to running programs
during development. You compile the
program, run the machine code, try
and spot any errors, and then go back
to your original code and sift through it,
searching for the offending line. It can
be a time-consuming business.
With ZBasic it’s much easier. If a bug
occurs you can re-enter the editor at
the point where the problem lies, fix it,
and try again. You can also, from the
editor, try out one-liners and they're
compiled, run and the editor returned
to automatically.
If you’ve never used a compiler you’ll
probably take this kind of thing for
granted. If you have used comphers
before — for any language - you’ll
appreciate what this means.
All this is well and good, but not
terribly useful if you can't actually do
anything worthwhile. Fortunately
ZBasic has a lot going for it in terms of
built-in functions. Graphics-wise it’s
got line, box and circle drawing (the
Unlike Basic 2, which always uses the
multicolour hi-es mode and tiem for
graphic handling, ZBasic can work in
any mode using the same commands
and coordinates. In the text-only modes
ZBasic draws lines by positioning char¬
acters around the place.
Not using Gem has other advan¬
tages, as the drawing commands are
considerably swifter. ZBasic supports
all the colours, too. It can’t handle the
Amstrad PC’s special graphic mode
though, and you’re stuck with the one
font.
ZBasic is a good deal more traditional
in other areas than Basic 2. You can
call machine code programs {or any
other program), CHAIN in other pro¬
grams, and read and write memory
directly. These, together v.^th some
well thought out memory manage¬
ment, mean that much bigger pro¬
gram.^ can be written in ZBa.^ic.
Super accuracy
The built-in mathematics are especially
good, as you can choose to trade off
some speed to increase accuracy and
precision. Most Basics can cope with S
or 16 digit numbers without losing
accuracy. At maximum precision
ZBasic can deal with 54 figure
accuracy.
This is phenomenal, and as far as I’m
aware unique. There are some
accounting procedures that can’t use
ordinary Basic, as pence get dropped
past the hundred million pound mark.
Even if an Italian accountant was
measuring the national debt in picolire,
ZBasic would be up to the job.
Almost every other function ever
incorporated in a Basic seems to be
there. Where something is missing, the
handbook usually gives ideas on how to
replace it with the functions or
commands available.
This is made particuJary practible, as
you can define multi-line functions
(almost procedures). So if you wanted
to take a string, extract two numbers
from it, multiply them together and
return the result as a string, you ciould
define a function to do it.
Other aids to program strucure
include WH1LE...WEND, IF, LONGIF
Amstrad User February 1987
Page 31
FEATURE
(which lasts over several lines), ELSE,
XELSE (extended ELSE for use with
LONGtF), and DO... UNTIL. Lin^
numbers are compulsory, but you can
give a line a label, so GOSUB print—
label is allowed - and encouraged.
File handling is also well imple¬
mented, Both serial and random access
file types are supported. This means
that databases can be knocked up with
the minimum of hassle. Random access
file handling is one of those things that
hardened programmers blanch at and
scare their kids wdth, as to get it right
takes a very cool approach indeed.
Some of ZBasic^s commands in this
area certainly look hairy enough, but
the documentation takes its time and
has plenty of explanatory diagrams and
programs to smooth the learning curve.
However the structures do not offer the
power of Jetsam which ia built into
Basic 2,
Read all about it
The documentation is impressive in
other areas as well. It^s a large
paperback book, some 400 pages worth,
containing just about everything you
could ever want to know about ZBasic.
It is quite well structured, beginning
with a helpline telephone number writ
large - the sign of a confident company.
Shame it"s in America.
The manual continues with an in
depth description of the editor, a
tutorial-style description of all the
commands, a reference section, and
then four appendicies for the four main
types of machine ZBasic currently runs
on.
Also included are sections on conver¬
ting programs from other dialects of
Basic, good programming practices,
and using the debugging tools provided
such as tracing, error trapping, and
Break enabling.
The style is clear, and has lots of
hints thrown in. I'm not sure a novice
would appreciate the speed at which
the descriptions go sometimes, or the
assumptions it makes about the user's
knowledge of computing terms.
Weak editor
One of ZBasic's major failings is the
lin e editor. Perhaps it^s a sign of its long
and venerable ancestry, or a shortcut
to compatibility, but it uses a collection
of keys and Esc or Enter to do its dirty
work.
So to change the word GOTO to
GOSUB in a line, you’d have to place
the cursor under the T, type C2 (for
change two characters), type SU, then
type 1 (for insert), B and then Esc to get
out of insert mode.
No doubt it would all come naturally
after a few weeks, but for the molly¬
coddled micro owner used to Delete
keys and word processors it seems
strangely out of sync with the rest of
ZBasic. Oh, and you've got to enter
commands and instructions in UPPER
CASE. Annoying,
Of course you can edit your program
in Wordstar, or any editor that can
produce plain brown Ascii files, but
then you lose a lot of the advantages of
interactiori.
So, in conclusion, ZBasic looks like a
very good idea for an experienced Basic
programmer who understands hia
machine and the things he wants to do
with it. It's certainly a good bet for
anyone wanting to write a game or
application for a lot of machines. It's
fast, friendly and full of features.
On the down side, the editor's a little
quirky, and the documentation might
be a touch too techy for beginners. But
this isn’t really a language for begin¬
ners. lt"s for those who are serious
about their computing. And it works.
Profiuct: ZBasic
Supplier: HiSoft, 0582 696421
Price: £49P5
ACU
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SOFTWARE DO o(w disc (br bodi PCW and CPC
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Page 32
Amstrad User February 1987
Ramming in
those graphics
It's true, gentle reader — size really IS
important. Peter Green's machine code
series continues with a program to
squash those awkward 16k graphic
screens into the handy, economy-sized
ram space of your computer.
•Tv
■t
}
The Amstrad screen is nice and big,
much better than those pokey little
Spectrum or MSX screens. Until you
want to fit more than one screen in
memory at once and flip between them.
At 16k a screen, loading up two
knocks out 70 per cent of the 45,000-
odd bytes remaining after the firmware
has grabbed its share ^
And even if you threw away all the
firmware^ loading three screens would
be impossible, as they would use the
whole bottom 48k without a single byte
free for the code to actually load them
up into the screen memory.
Compressing graphic screens is also
a useful technique for users with tape-
based systems, as it can cut down
considerably on loading times. On the
other hand^ disc users might appreciate
being able to fit more screen dumps
onto a floppy disc.
Cut it out
There are various compression
algorithms, but every one relies on one
thing - the existence of patterns or
repetitive sequences in the data to be
compressed. The compressor has to find
the patterns and replace them with
some identifier which takes up less
space.
The expander routine simply
replaces each identifier in the
compressed data with the set of data it
represents.
In many cases where the frequency
spread between the most and least fre¬
quent patterns is quite high, a
compressor may actually replace an
infrequent sequence of data with an
identifier which is longer. The relative
scarcity of such patterns offsets their
increase in storage space.
Virtually any graphic screen is going
to have some areas with a repeat of
data - large areas of a single colour,
say, or a section of stipple shading -
interspersed with the more detailed
pixel patterns.
The compressor here breaks a screen
up into sections of data which repeat
and sections which don’t. Each section
is prefixed with a count byte which tells
the expander program what to do with
the subsequent byte(s) in the
compressed data.
There are two types of section: A
string of n bytes ail the same, or a
string of n bytes all different, Wc need
the top bit of the count byte to flag
which type of data is following, leaving
the bottom seven bits for the actual
number. Hence the maximum siKe of
screen data that a section can repre¬
sent is 127 bytes.
Now if the section is one for a string
of bytes each different to its neighbour,
the compressed section actually
consists of the same data as in the
screen, plus the extra prefixed count
byte. That is, the data has got one byte
bigger!
On the other hand, a set of 127 bytes
all the same will be stored as the count
byte, plus the actual byte value from
the screen. 127 bytes down to 2 is a
compression of 98.4 per cent — not loo
shabby!
If a screen could be drawn in which
no two consecutive bytes were the
same, its compressed si^e would be
actually be 131 bytes greater than the
original.
This is because the compressor turns
the 16384 bytes into 129 127-byte sec¬
tions, a final 1-byte section, one count
byte for each of the sections and a zero
stop-byte which tells the expander it’s
reached the end of the data.
A completely blank screen would, by
a similar calculation, reduce to 130 two-
byte sections plus the stop byte, a mas¬
sive reduction.
In practice, the compression achieved
by the program will lie somewhere
between these two extremes. I tried
running the title screens for two
commercial programs I’ve been in¬
volved with through the compres.sor.
The screen from Amstrad Fourmost
Adventures which has some large
areas of pattern reduced to 25 per cent
of ita original size. Green Beret on the
MSX (ported using a variation of my
ZXLOADER program), while having
much greater detail, still squa.shed
down to 70 per cent.
The Crush Hour
Listing 1 is the assembly language pro¬
gram for the compressor, produced
using Amor’s Protext word processor
and assembled on Maxam. Readers
with other assemblers may need to
reduce the length of the labels to six or
eight characters, and replace WORD,
TEXT and RMEM with DEFW, DEFM
and DEFS.
Otherwise, no problems. The pro¬
gram sits at &4i[KK) and processes data
^ Amstrad User February 1987
I
Page 33
Cl <
li
Trn
Worner &ro5. Inc
I rinlik i
SPECTRUM
COMMODORE 64
AMSTRAD
6 Central Street- Manche^lef M? 5JMS
Tel: 06 r 034 3939 -Telen 669777
\<f.cc!xryyyy.-m
PROGRAMMING
from the screen memory {.&COOO-
&FFFF) into a compressed form which
starts just above the program variables
at .gmallpic.
The KQU $ is a fairly universal
assembler command and means **the
value of the label is to be the current
value of the program counteri'. That is^
smallpic equals the next free address
after the program and that's where the
compressed data is to be found when
the program has run.
The program uses only one firmware
call, the ubiquitous TXT_OUTPUT^
which is defined at the start.
Then the variables are set up; IX
points to the running count as a section
is built up land IX+1 holds the previous
byte from the scan for use in the
comparisons), B and C are initialised to
column zero, row zero in one instruc-
tion (saves a byte)^ and DE is set up as
a pointer to the area where we will
store the compressed data.
The subroutine .start is used to get
the next two bytea from the screen and
decide whether to start a sequence of n
bytes all the same, or n bytes all dif¬
ferent.
However, each type of sequence loops
back to .start when a sequence of the
opposite type is encountered, so the one
CALL to .start actually converts the
entire screen.
On return from the CALL the zero
stop byte is written to the end of
smallpic (LD A,0 takes two bytes, while
XOR A takes one and achieves the
same result, aa XOR A really means
XOR A with A and any number XORed
with itself gives zero).
To save the data in its compressed
form you'll need to know how long it is,
so the string siiieins^g is printed - the
CHR$(1^) that starts the message
clears the screen.
The length of the data is calculated
by subtracting the start address from
the end, and .printHL converts the 16
bit hex result to a string of Ascii codes
and prints it.
The text cursor is moved to the start
of the next line with a carriage return/
line feed fhey, hey, let^s be neat out
there) and the program returns from
whence it was called. You can use this
as a subroutine in a larger machine
code program, or call it directly fom
Basic with something as simple as:
10 MEMORY &5FFF
20 T.X)AD '^co]iipresgi,biii”,&4000
30 MODE I ; REM or whatever
mode the aoreen is in
40 LOAD “picture”,&C0<K»
50 CALL &4000
When it"s done, the length is on¬
screen and you are given the start
address when, the assembler assembles
the machine code so you can save the
data as a binary file.
More advanced programmers will
know that the CALL &4000 can pass
the address of a Basic variable to the
machine code, which can then insert
the data length and pass it back to
Basic to automate the SAVE process.
This will require small changes to the
listing which are left as an exercise to
the reader: (hint: Basic passes the
address of CALL parameters in the IX
register, so replace IX with lY in the
compressor program).
The printHL subroutine is another
useful library routine that has an
abundance of uses, like the print
routine which turns up here again. It
calls A to BCchars twice, converting
the two nibbles of the hex number in A
into their equivalent Ascii character
codes in B and C, and prints them.
This in turn uses two routines which
convert the high and low nibbles to
Ascii individually. The assembler com¬
ments are sufticient bo explain these
trivial bits of program.
Cut down to size
The code which begins at .start first
checks for the very unlikely situation
where the compressed data has ended
up longer than the original, in which
case it prints out a suitable error meg^g-
age and quits.
Otherwige it tries to get a byte from
the screen. If the carry was set, it
succeeded; if not, there are no more
bytea left, and the routine returns to th e
main body of the program.
Otherwise, the program stores the
byte in the tost variable IX+1 and in a
temporary area as if it was the start of
a string of characters all different It
initialises the section count to 1, then
tries to get the next byte — it needs two
bytes to decide which type of section it
is starting to build.
If there's no byte available, the
screen end has been reached go the one
byte we got in the last paragraph can
be sent as a same-byle section of size 1,
by routine .out_game, and processing
terminated.
If there is a second byte, the counter
is incremented and the byte compared
with the previous one, then stored as
the new best byte* The result of this test
(equality or not) determines which of
two loops the program enters, .same or
.different.
The two loops are similar in action.
Each continues to fetch bytes from the
screen, compare them to the previous
byte and continue looping round until a
pair from the opposite type of section
are found or the byte count exceeds
m.
In either case the top bit of the count
is set to indicate the type of section and
the section count is stored in the
.smallpic area pointed to by DE. The
section data is appended (either the
single byte from (IX+1) for .out__same,
or the (count) bytes from the string of
different string storage area for .out_
diff.
Here we use LDIR, a very useful Z80
instruction which automatically moves
BC number of byteg from the location
pointed to by HL to the location pointed
to by DE.
If a section was terminated by hitting
a section of the opposite type, then the
screen coordinate pointer in BC hag to
be back-spaced over the bytes that
don’ll belong. In any case, when a sec¬
tion is terminated for any reason
(except the end of screen), the program
loops back to .start to begin a new
section.
The routine ,get_byte needs to do
some 16 bit arithmetic to convert the
screen coordinate to an actual screen
address. Neither of the two firmware
routines are any use, as one goes from
character coordinateg to a screen
address, the other from pixel coordi¬
nates.
We are working from screen byte
coordinates and need our own calcu¬
lation. The only messy bit is the mul¬
tiplication by 80, which as mentioned
last month can be accomplished by a
genes of additions.
Blow up
Listing 2 gives the corresponding
expander program, which is relatively
trivial. It simply fetches a count byte
from the compressed data and depen¬
ding on whether the top bit is set or not,
outputs the next byte n times, or the
next n bytes.
If you think about it, no section can
have a count of zero, so that can be used
as a unique end-of-data marker.
Amatrad User February 1987
Page 35
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i
Page 36
Amstrad User February 1987
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Amstrad User February 1987
Page 37
a?EATE YOUR OWN DESIGNS )N
THRE'E OIMENSIONS WITH : *
Fo.r the fTrsI lime on the Amstrad computers you-can now'cr'Mte
your own desjyns in three dimensions. ViOd.ei'Univ££^,^^,sH6w£ you
.to draw in j(. y. and i corO^dinatTes vjith thoT^implioP^' 6f starTdard
tv./o dimensionat drawiny systems. Create three dimensional
illuStraliOJis and display them m true perspecUve from any angle.
Twist, turn rotate the images through a ful! 360 . Zoom \n closer
and view the obiGCt from.the inside-'Qyite reHreating'
Model UrYiverse can be operated by keyboard, joystick'or.'mous*' '
control with full "ioorn" in and out tacilities. AN croaipd [mage.-^can,
b'eoutpLit to disc tor cassette^ printer orplotier. Bujir in Spftwia'e to
dump screens to any Epson compatible printers, mcluding the
Amstrad DMP2000.''30flO. - " ■
With thc^ full use of-alt .27 colours the. applicatiijnsrare endless.
Erorn 5ames writer to graphic des gner: ^*om teacher to tech-^ical
illustrator, or justjor furr'
Erom the jechino^gy o1 •mamkame'’ computers. Model Um.verse
can sirnulate-three dimensional irnages m a manner yet to-
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iis^iiiiiiiiaiiisisassmiiii^^
REVIEW
J
You won’t get many to admit it, but
fashions and fads seem to play an in¬
creasingly large part in the production
of computer games. The summer of ^86
was Karate, then came Commando-
style ahoot-em-ups.
But the autumn of '87 can now be
ofTicially declared the era of the Gaunt¬
let clone^ (Editors tip for the future:
Nemisis and Siatamander space^bosed
shoot-em-upsK
Gauntlet? Just in case you’ve had
your head in a bucket for the last year
or sOj perhaps the word needs some
short explanation.
Gauntlet (the coin-op) was an Atari
game that hit the arcades just over a
year ago - and it had the punters
queueing up in the streets for the privi¬
lege of putting the hard earned dosh in
the slots.
The reason for this stampede? Great
fantasy storyline, fabby hi-res
graphics, bags of sampled sound - but
most of all the multi-player action. Up
to four players at a time could battle
away through the mazes chock full of
monsters and treasure.
Everybody loved it - entyer the home
computer software producers.
Since then, five different Gauntlet-
style games have been released, most
recently the ofTicial licenced version
from US Gold. Which tegs the ques¬
tions: How does it compare to its illus¬
trious forefather and do the imitators
offer anything extra?
Gauntlet — the
official one
One of the advantages of a licence is
that your basic system design and
graphics have already been designed -
and praise should go to Tony Porter,
Bill Allen and Kevin Bulmer of Grem¬
lin Graphics (sub-contracted to do the
conversion) for reproducing both on the
Arnold in a very workmanlike fashion.
The scenario is the same, although
due to hardware limitations (you try
crowding four people around a key¬
board) the action is limited to one or
two players.
At the start you choose the one or
two player option (wdth two player, one
person uses keyboard controls) and
then select one of the four characters
you want to play.
Feeling particularly macho? You
could try Thor the W'arrior, Spritely?
Then Questor the Elf is for you. Mag¬
ical? Merlin^a your man. And if there’s
a lady in the house, Thyra the Valkyrie
is a natural choice,
Each one has its particular advan¬
tages and disadvantages. Thor can
throw a mean axe and has pretty good
armour, but isn’t too good when it
comes to using magic potions. Merlin,
on the other hand, as you would expect
These days fantasy is very much in
fashion, spearheaded by the multi¬
player action of Gauntlet. John Baker
investigates various Amstrad versions
uses magic well but hasnft got any
armour.
After this, press fire and away you go
to Level One of the dungeon, Each level
is a maze predominantly filled with
monsters, but there are other things
you’ll not want to hack away at.
Keys must be collected for future use
- they open magic doors that you'll
come across from time to time. Food
comes in handy for replenishing your
energy (which slowly ticks down from
2000 from the word go - much faster if
a monster is putting the boot in).
Best of all are magic potions ~ the
medieval equivalent of smart bombs.
For use in emergencies only,
The items you have collected are
shown below the main display, along
with the number of points you have
scored to date and the energy you have
left.
There are six different types of
monster you'll find yourself up against
- Ghosts, Grunts, Demons, bobbers
and Sorcerers, each more deadly than
the last. IVorst of all ia the black coated
figure of Death, who can only be
disposedi of with a potion.
All (except Death) are created by
“monster generators”, so it’s no good
killing all the monsters in a section
Amstrad User February 198T
Page 39
REVIEW
I
H; ! . '' ! ;■.': ???? ! !y y-'r!4
^:^S■3-i■ ":£S8?"-
. ^ ..■£S.■■■-■ fSSf'"-:; fSS?="
niiVi'rfti^\fi*^aaaaaiaateiaa^
-fild' -":™,
iwiwrt¥iiKiitiwii<J
{either hand-to-hand or much pref-
erably Uising your mis.sile weapon)
unless you destroy the ^jen era tors too.
The dual aims while wandering
through the leveis are to kill/maim/
collect treasure and so on, and try to
find the stairs down to the next level.
Sometimes there will be more than
one exit - on Level Une there is a short
out down to Level Eight, for instance.
And sometimes the maze is so
tx>mplicated and devious you’ll wonder
if one exits at all!
Generally, the lower the level the
nastier the monsters and the greater
the surprises - like poisoned food, traps
and transporters. Rut there are nice
surprises too^ such as special potions to
increase your abilities.
Like the originah there’s no doubt
that the game is best played multi¬
player, with the two of you battling it
out against the opposition.
The CPC version does lack the flashy
effects of the coin-op - only the ST ver¬
sion will come anything close but the
conversion is faithful to the original
and does capture its hack-and-slay
spirit.
Don’t expect to have to strain your
brain too much, but if you want the real
thing, this is it.
The Clones
Storm by Mastertronic: The first
clone to come on to the market, this
budget title has all the elernent^ of
Gauntlet - top down view^ monster
generators, energy levels - but is flip
screen rather than continuous scroll.
Generally the graphics and ani¬
mation are inferior, but if you are into
quests {rather than carnage just for the
fun of it) then Storm gives you a flin^sy
excufie with the premise of rescuing a
damsel in distress.
One or two players allowed (with
similar characteristics), single load,
enjoyable enough budget faro lacking
the polish of the full-pricT' clones.
Dandy by Electric Dreams: Electric
Dreams stole the limelight from US
Gold at the PCW show this year
Gauntlet
(eventually coming to one of those
amicable agreements) by licensing the
project from w^hich Gauntlet was
actually developed.
Thus it has many of the same
elements but the graphics are
completely different and to my mind
less effective.
Flip screens again, with one or two
players (again,, both with the same
abilities) and multi-load (like Gauntlet
itself)
After much playtesting, I decided I
preferred Gauntlet, although you
might find the graphics more attractive
on the telly.
Druid by Firebird: Telecom Soft’s
entry to the fray — well executed and
nicely designed. More a one player
game, although a second player can
control a Golem when you^’ve learned
how to create it.
Druid has slightly more complex
gameplay and strategy overall - much
more a cerebral arcade adventure than
a straightforward bloodbath.
Scrolling screen,, single load, it’s dif¬
ferent enough that you might want to
have both this and Gauntlet in your
collection.
Avenger by Gremlin Graphica^:
Follow-up to Way of the Tiger In that
you control the same personUj although
the graphics and gamesplay are
completely different. Although visually
similar^ it draws little from Gauntlet -
again, you might want both. Both
arcade and brain skills are needed, as
you work out w^hich doors to open w^ith
the limited supply of keys available.
Certainly not just a martial arts bash
- in fact you might find the brain strain
a bit too much for you. One player
single load,
John Bicker
'jj, L
Avenger
Page 40
Amstrad User February 1987
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YourpBrsonalpassport to tHe wide world of communicutiops
Snake is a game for the 464 written in
machine code and occupying about 4k►
You play the part of a snake travelling
around a garden full of mushrooms and
toadstools. You must try to eat as many
mushrooms as possible^ but avoid the
flashing toadstools at all costs as they are
poisonous.
The more mushrooms you eat, the
longer the snake gets, thus decreasing
your manoeuvrability. There is only a
certain amount of time for you to eat all
the mushrooms on the screen^ and if you
do this you get a bonus depending on the
time left.
You then progress to the next screen
where things work faster and you have
more toadstools to avoid. You have three
Uvea for each game. There are three skill
levels with level 1 being the easiest
(slowest) and level three the most
difficult (fastest).
The keys to press are Z for left* X for
right, semicolon or plus for up, and / or ?
for down. Press P to pause the game.
To play Snake, you must type in the
Basic listing which pokes the code for the
game into memory and SAVEs it for you.
Save it straight away without running it.
Now run it and if the program informs
you of any errors in the data, it will point
out the line at which the error occurred. If
this happens correct it and resave it.
When you have got the Basic program
to run without errors you must have a
tape ready to save the code on to.
The program saves it for you auto¬
matically, in the form of an auto-run file.
Then to run the program you can use the
Ctrl and Enter keys.
**^t±4A + **'* SHAKE *************
5 H nt(iuBbtr*100
10
F9I1 U!00#i T# 34#40 5TfP 6
15
101 = 0
20
HEAB
At
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=# TO 7
30
»=UAir't“*BIPI*2 5*1,2;)
35
POKE
i + j.'*
4#
43
NEXT
50
IIEAB
c
3S
IF iQtAVc THEN PHIHT "'Crrflr '
in Unf " ; 1 i ntrtuHhtnCNB
60
line nviAbe r = I’i n tnu ■ bt f * 1 0
65
NEXT
70
eave
" Ena Ha''30 00#, 4 03#,
300«0
10#
BAT*
CB5F325BrSED5F32,972
110
BATA
5c73EB5f325BT5ED,103B
120
DATA
5F325E7311F00«21,646
130
BATA
A474CDA60flnA4r4,1140
140
DATA
2i5F73«ie#e0EBe0,79a
130
DATA
C35376#102030424,442
160
BATA
JcrE5A7E7E3ClS14,636
17#
BATA
3C7E7E3*7E3C240«,624
16#
BATA
3itEE7F7FEE3C#00#,350
19#
BATA
3(77FEFE77SC#004,970
20#
PATA
FF4#4040FF04B400,ri0
210
BATA
3C7E7El819lif#1S.ia4
220
DATA
3H:7EE7E77E3C1fl15,#a2
230
DATA
3C66C3i:i663ClftlC,799
24 0
DHTA
3C66C3C3663CBC24,B10
250
BATA
3E660#De663C243E,S3a
260
DATA
3C66BBBB663C3C3C,902
27#
BATA
245AA5A55A243c3C,702
26#
BATA
243AE7E75A243C3C,a!4
29#
BATA
3C5HE7Er5A5C3t3C,9B2
30#
BATH
3C5HFfFF5A!c3t3C,930
310
PATA
3C7EFFFF7e3C3c3E,1004
320
BATA
01CD#tBC3EA4CBlf.670
33#
BATA
60TA4E 76CB1Fa03H,6#4
34#
BATA
f07SCDSA0B3A997A,1146
330
DATA
CbS*&B3A257BCB1F„936
360
BATA
a03AB.37B[CB1f8#3A,910
370
DATA
4E7CtP5A0B3A4E76,93S
340
BATA
CD1f6#5ACf7CCB5A,1#4e
39#
BATA
BB3AP1711CB5PBEI3A,1122
40#
BATA
4F76CBlFa03AF37A,961
410
DATA
CDSAaB5A#37BCBlF,10T4
420
DATA
905A4E7cCB5A045A,928
430
BATA
FE7DCB5BBB3AB370J1224
440
DATA
i:D5AaB3ABi7i:c&tF,1l06
450
DATA
6tCBlABBFE2#20F9,1111
4 6#
BATA
C3E96i3E012l5E'76,663
4 7#
PATH
CBBCBE141001#10#j623
480
DATA
030#0000#00###l!#^5
490
DATA
#00|I#0000#3E0221 .97
3#0
BATA
7776CDBC0Ciai081,459
51#
DATA
0FFf06#000«#00#0,£r6
S2#
BATA
0##0000#000#003E,62
55#
BATA
i32t9176CB0C#Cia,904
540
PATA
10010FFF#1000#00.2S6
5 5#
BAT*
00##000##000B000,0
' 56#
DATA
003£0421AB76CDBC:,7B1
570
DATA
BCl41001#Fff#A00,509
580
DATA
000B0000#0000#00,#
590
DATA
#00##03E#T2U376,4 1 1
600
DATA
CB#Fe9iei#000#00.624
6f0
BATA
#000#0000#000#00,#
620
BATA
#000«»000#3E0221,97
630
DATA
DF76CBBFBCTai0#2,967
640
BATA
1e1e011EE2#300#0,52#
650
BATA
«#000##000##003E,62
660
DATA
0321i976CBeFBCia,1#11
67#
DATA
1B0101#00f##00##,53
' 68#
BATA
0##000##000«000#,0
690
BATA
«93E04211377CDBF,633
7#»
BATA
#C181#«10F320A#0,3«4
71#
BATA
#«#00«#»00fl#00##,0
72#
BATA
0##00#3E04C:D5ABB,349.
73#
DATA
3E01CD5A00213B77,756
74#
BATA
7EFE002'gl4ED5A00,93#
75#
DATA
23iafS436f6C4f75,819
76#
BATA
72206B6F6E69746F,609
77#
BATA
72202B592r4E29JF,504
76#
BATA
0#3e2bc:d 1 E0#i:;269,825
79#
BATA
77Jt2FCP1EaftCA5l,9!2
90#
DATA
772'12e7#t066ie05,6Bl
91#
BATA
2l2a7BCS[63E0001,66#
82#
DATA
09fl9CB32&C3E0l0l,52S
93#
PATA
000#CD32BE3E»201,506
940
DAT*
030JtB32ftC3E#30T,515
95#
PATH
0D03ED32B{:3E#1CD,727
Hi PATH flEBC3EB1(;ii?PBB!E^a6].
A70 PATH ee£P‘96BB2lDl777E..1l3r^
4BI9 PATH FCBiCADAZaATllIf,?56
P.HTA CflSHBBTeC&^ABOSS.II I?
^40 PATH 7ECbMBBf3.7ECI>SA,.ie^^
?lfl &HTA B6i3E5?EmceB?7F,1S24
DHTA l;p.^57^la0P^1B61J,74^
tHTA fBJtB5-?(|'FBe9'ElTa,10111
94# tiATA i:E«9fllF]0eB}r6B7,7?S
9$.# 9ATA 03.FdiaB4J F4B503F4^7^A
96B PATH OS'fA
970 PATH Tm06fte706FA0S,771
9S0 PATH afiF9a906F4'09#7FE.^77S
990 D-ATH 090&F909#9r«0S09„544
1»00 PATH F607&9FS#i09F605.,774
1#10 PATH a9F?0B09F10B«aF6,777
1i20 9ATH #BBTF90B09F60 BB^.i 5AS
1#30 frATH Fi00#4F60B03fi0Cj779
1040 BHTA 05F60P06F6ST0rF4,7a3
103# BATA 0F#9Ft#F0BF60f#7^39l
106# BATA F6#F06F60fPSFfiSf,79^ -
1B70 PATH 04F9BF03F01109F1,77?
1060 PATH 110&Fi1107F«t106,S64
1090 PATH F6110^FBt£06F411..901
1100 HATH #4f61101FeiJ#9FB,787
1110 P'AIA 1Z0;F913#3F61A03j5^0
11^0 BHTA F6U#ifrF61503F9lS^A09
1130 P'ATA f4F6l303fd.150«F6,793
1140 DHTA 1S07F*T50AF613€9,579
use OATA Fll709F117#BFfil7,61A
116# BATA 07F9ir#^F61703F9/B«S
117# BATA 17flXiF6170SF#1S04,569
11S0 PATH Ffi1905f41907F6lA^azi
1190 PATH S4F4lA0aF6lB#3f1,903
1200 DATA 1B09F321»9F3^009,40S
1J10 BATA F41F#9FfilE09F61t?,946
1Z20 9HTA #9F6lP0ef41BB7F6,a£0
1Z30 DATA 1P06F61B0SF61P04,394
1240 DATA FilB01Fi1E#3F6lF,6J1
1S5# BATA 0JF6J0#5f62105F3,B#9
126# BATA lE#Af61F06F920#B,603
127# PATH r3#B3Ei2CD9#0B21,379
1260 PATH 0Bl#CB75B.B0i0a21,56J
1290 DATA F3767EC95ABB23ia,1022
1300 PAtA F9ia094i4F6ErA72/900
1J10 BATA if4C7355210Bl1CP,485
1J20 BHTA 75BB#405fT5079'7E,475
1JJ0 BATA tDlABB231#F9?111 ,132
15A0 BATA 1l:B75BB04i7?155,657
13S# BATA 797ECB5ABB2310F9,1#29
136B BATA 21#F0BCP73BB061H,$97
137# DATA 21SC797E{:B$HB021,8e9
1360 PATA 10F93E02CB96BB3E,9!I
1390 PATH 03CB90BB211B#ACB,gil
1400 BATA riiBB0417?17fi?97E/731
1410 MTA e«6ABB2310F91B3B,A67
1 420 BATA 3B2B2P^3i7#3F2B2li,499
1 430 BATA 444f779E5H2B2Bii:,696
1440 BATA 65967420?flE02020,479
Amstrad User February 4987
FEATURE I
1*50
DATA
2«202fl242fl243B2D,525
1*68
DATA
2D5269476B74205#,447
1*70
DATA
7245737320414£79,B#5
1*84
DATA
2«4a657924744F2#,452
U9#
DATA
704C6179Z0CD090a,B71
1504
DATA
3BFBCD#4BBC5 F17A,1243
151#
PAT*
401F561B70178S13,548
1520
DATA
A80fB80DD407E60],820
1530
DATA
0480#0007004046#,334
15*0
DATA
0»00500000*#0000,1*4
1550
PATA
3#40«42B444«144#,94
1560
DATA
53494D6f6-f2«436F,728
1370
PATA
6E724F79242#2055,653
1560
DATA
694D4F6E20*34F6E,755
1594
PATA
724F7924202#5S49,454
1400
DATA
6D6f4E2B436F4E72,744
1414
PATA
&f7924242455494d,4Z3
1420
DATA
6F6E20*34F6E726F,744
1430
DATA
79202a2B53694D6F,623
14*0
DATA
fiE2B*34F4€724f79,774
1430
DATA
20202033496D4F6E,614
1460
PATA
20*34F6E726F792#,69a
1474
DATA
242053494B6F4E2#,6l4
1460
DATA
*36f4£724F79£024,698
1490
PATA
2i55494D4F6E24*5,4*9
1700
DATA
6F6E726F7g2#2024,643
1710
DATA
210A#ACD5EBC5E01,5ri
1720
DATA
32367A21400«2237,*12
1730
DATA
7A22597A5E0#525B,37a '
17*0
DATA
7ACD4.55*18**400#,620
1730
DATA
0i00#000#40BE3E5,*24
1760
DATA
0406215E75215E73,5#2
1770
DATA
C67E2812207EEe74,912
17S0
PATA
772B7EEEB5772B7E,995
1790
DATA
EE537737T8013F21,614
1800
PATA
5b75!:b1625cb1421,728
1810
DATA
C41623Cai41ID37E,658
1820
PATA
E1c1CB3F[B5FI:b3F,1216
1830
DATA
:96944302i2873CD,7$5
18*0
paTa
5E7AFE1050f9i:;605,984
1850
DATA
7723CD5E7AfEUJ#,897
I860
DATA
F9£6#3FE4P20013C:,810
1870
DATA
773E5090[AEC7AE5,119*
1860
DATA
£55E2656212B7BCB,619
1894
PATA
9E212873*77£BA25,744
1900
DATA
240a7Ee02407E521,65-7
1914
PATA
287Bi;BDEEt2514ED,1101
1920
DATA
212674CB5EC1E128,95T
1950
DATA
052B2B4*2510B4C9,32I
1940
DATA
0«3E#332F47ACP38,738
1950
DATA
7A'CD247B[D497D21,92*
1940
DATA
Z87B7EE6«4ZBF5CB,1013
1974
DATA
572e«5cDaiaiiaE9,725
1980
tTATA
CDA*B«Z1F«7A7E3D,1079
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ACU
Page 43
Amstrad User February 1967
///.
/
JJJ.
H-
/ /■
////.//.
CHIPS WITH E
SOFTWARE ON ROM IS SO CONVENIENT YOU WILiJ \
PROTEXT
A comprehensive
and professional
word processing
package, now
established as the No.l
W.P. Package.
%
”1 am stunned by the speed at which
PROTEXT performs the text operation,
there is nothing tike it on the AMSTRAD .
knocks Pocket Wordstar into a cocked hat” ^
. . . AMTIX !
^'Far more facilities, accessedfar faster with far more
versatility than are available to Locoscript or
Wordstar users .».» provides facilities fora business
user not found on dedicated word processors costing
5 times as much as the
Fcatures:-
SUPERFAST ★
LARGE TEXT FILES ★
OUTPUT TO ANY PRINTER ★
ACCEPTS FILES FROM
OTHER W,P/s ★
INSTANT ACCESS
FROM ROM ★
hardware and software
combined.”
.... PRESTEL,
MICRONET 800
“They took their time
with it and it was worth
the wait.” . . . .ACU
*^Don^t miss it, it is
superb” .,. POPULAR
C WEEKLY
The best AMSTRAD WP
at any price.” .... VC
PROTEXT
THE MAJOR ADDITION TO ANY WORD PROCESSING PACKAGE:-
A top>selling program for use with or without Protext.
FEATURES t
.95
HUGE DICTIONARY
CHECKS AT UP TO 2000 WPM
CHECKS FILES FROM TASWORD
NEWWORD, WORDSTAR etc.
LOOK UP OPTION
FIND WORDS/ANAGRAMS - GREAT
FOR CROSSWORDS
PROSPELL
£ 34 “
PISC
'An outstanding buy.” . . . POPULAR C* WEEKLY
■'^A very superior Amstrad spell-checkef .... AMTlKf ^
"Look no further than PROSPELL”- ACU
"Fast efficient easy to use.” . . . . YOtJR COMPUTER
"All in all a great program for just about aJl the word processors
you will ever come up against for the Amstrad ranges'"
. .AMTIX!
lir.
MAIL MERGE
AUTO REFORMAT
SELECTIVE PRINTING
ROM VERSION GIVES TWO FILE
EDITING AND BACKGROUND PRINTING
COMPATIBLE WITH DK’ TRONICS
EXPANSION RAM
PROMERGE COMPLETING THE SET.
THIS PRODUCT EXPANDS POTENTIAL EVEN FURTHER.
COMPREHENSIVE m
fZft
PRESS
95
Hopefully PROMERGE will
open up a new market of small
business for ARNOR.”
POPULAR COMPUTING
WEEKLY
proi
\^ERYTHING ?
■M'V'.*’ '
jjMAXAM j
[LL
WONDER HOW YOU EVER SURVIVED WITHOUT IT!
BCPL
Bored with basic? Do you want to try something new? BCPL is a flexible, fast, general
purpose language, widely used by writers of editors, compilers & operating systems (CP/M Proteid: was partly written
L to machine code. CP/M and Amsdos are included in one package
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■r
DIRECTORY
In the last of his series of articles on
understanding MSdos Robert Schifreen
explains how to use your directory
ONE of the best things about Gem is
the way it helpiii you organijje your files.
You can create filing cabinets and
folders for file storage, all represented
on the screen by icons.
For example, you could have two filing
cabinets on a disc^ called PROGRAMS
and LETTERS. Into these^ natu^'^hy
enough, you could file all the programs
and letters you write.
If you have lots of files on a disCi. you
could extend the idea further by split¬
ting the PROGRAMS filing cabinet into
a GAMES folder and an OTHERS
folder to keep the categories separate.
Putting groups of files into their own
filing cabinets and folderi? helps you
keep track of them. When their con¬
tents are displayed on-screen, only the
files that you are interested in will
actually appear. If you ask for a list of
what’s in the GAMES filing cabinet,
you won’t have letters and other odd
files in the w^ay.
Using cabinets and folders to keep a
floppy disc in order is useful but not
essential, as you can only have just
over 100 files on a floppy disc anyway.
If you have a hard disc though,
where you could have more than 1,000
files, keeping things organised is
essential Otherwise your Gem screen
will contain hundreds of dilferent icons
and it will become very hard to find a
specific file.
If you don't u.se Gem, or prefer to use
MSdos (or Dos Plus even), there’s no*
reason w^hy you can't have your files
organised in exactly the same way as
Gem provides.
For when Gem creates filing cabinets
and folders to separate groups of files,
it’s not doing anything special — it’s
just u.sing something that normal
MSdos can already do. Gem simply
makes the screen look pretty by filling
it wdth little pictures.
With MSdos, the equivalent of a Gem
filing cabinet is called a directory. Here
you can put files, more directories or a
mixture of the two.
A directory inside a directory - the
Gem equivalent of a folder - is known
in MSdos as a subdirectory. The whole
topic of MSdos directories is quite
enough to play around with, so I’ll leave
subdirectories for another time.
Branching out
You can have any number of direc¬
tories and subdirectories on a disc - as
long as you have at least one.
This is known as the root directory
and any other directories on a disc are
placed inside it. Every disc has a root
directory, even if you don’t explicitly
create it.
To get started, you’ll need an MSdos
disc that has a few files on it and at
least 20k of space. Put the disc in drive
A and type A: to make sure MSdos
knows w^hich drive you’re w^orking
wuth.
Pm assuming that the disc you have
in drive A has no extra directories on it.
If it has, you already know how you put
them there so it’s not worth reading on
anywayl
Type DIR to get a directory of the
disc. Before MSdos displays the list of
files on the screen, you’ll see a line like:
Directory of
The A\ tells you what drive you are
looking at, w^hile the \ .symbol
tbackslash) shows the name of the
directory you are currently in. Being in
a directory is like l>eing inside a certain
filing cabinet or folder in Gem.
Naming names
Normally, directories have names. The
only one that you can’t name is the root
directory, which is always represented
by a backslash.
OK, so the disc only has one directory
on it- Let’s create another and call it
TEST.
When you create a new directory on
a disc, its name can be up to eight cha¬
racters, just tike a file’s name.
You can even give it an extension but
that’s not a good idea as some software
doesn’t like extensions on directories
(PC-Write for extimple).
To create a new directory, type;
MKDLR TEST
The MKDIR command makes a new
directory. After a second or so, the
MSdos prompt will return and the
directory will have been created. Inci¬
dentally, vou can abbreviate MKDIR to
MD.
Now, type DTR and see w^hat
happens.
The directory listing is the same as
before! If you look at the line which tells
you which directory is being listed out,
you’ll see it still says A:\.
Just because we have a new direc¬
tory called TEST, it doesn’t mean that
M^os looks at it. That’s the beauty of
directories; they are treated almost like
Page 47
Aiustrad User February 1987
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Page 48
Amstrad User February 1987
I
separate disc drives.
Just as you have to log into a disc
drive before you use it, you have to tell
MSdos which directory you will be
working in, and from which you want
MSdos to get your programs and files^
We are currently in the root direc-
tory^ To look inside TEST, we need to
be in the TEST directory. (With MSdos,
the directory that you are in is called
your current directory).
To make TEST our current directory,
type’ *
CHDIR TEST.
CHDIR changes the current direc¬
tory. Now, type DIR and aee what you
get. You'll see something like this:
Volume in drive A: haa no label
Directory of A:\TEST
. <DIR> 11-30-86 2:64p
» <DIR> 11-30-86 2:34p
2 Me(s) 192700 bytes free
Although you haven’t put any files
into the TEST directory, MSdos has
created two for you, called '\*'and
These are special files, which are
actually directories themselves, hence
the <DIR> part, I won’t explain these
special entries now, except to say that
they exist. Any MSdos book will
explain them further.
Apart from these two entries there
are no files in our current directory, but
there are a number of ways to get a file
in.
For example, when a word processor
saves your text on disc it usually puts
the file in the current directory. Alter¬
natively, you could copy some files from
the root directory into your new one.
To do this, use the CHDIR command
to change back into the root directory
by typing CHDIR \, (Note the special
name for the root directory).
Type DIR and select a file. Let’s
suppose it’s called PLAYFILE.DOC. To
copy this file from the root into the
TEST directory, type;
COPY ' 1 PLAYFILE.DOC
\TESTiPLAYFILE.DOC
To see if the file got copied, change back
into the TEST directory.
How separate is a
directory?
MSdos treats directories almost like
separate drives. If you are in the root
directory and type DEL for exam¬
ple, only the files in that particular
directory will be deleted.
MSdos won’t look through the other
directories for files to delete. If you
don’t believe me then try it, but use an
unwanted disc just in case you get it
wrong.
In a short article if^s impossible to
explain fully the use of directories. The
idea is such a fundamental part of
MSdos that it would take many pages
to cover everything.
If you want to know more, read the
manual that came with your PC or
invest in another MSdos book. There’s
a good one by Van Wolverton, pub¬
lished by Microsoft Press, called
Running MSdos.
Make sure you get the new edition,
which covers MSdos right up to version
3.2.
Meanwhile, Til leave you with a
summary of those MSdos commands
that deal writh directories - read
through the sections in the Amstrad
PC 1512 manual for more information.
It’s a good idea to experiment with
the computer as you read, but make
yourself a test disc to use - not one that
contains your only copy of a file.
Incidentally, PATH, MKDIR,
R.S.D. WILL SEE YOU'RE WELL CONNECTED
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Amstrad User February 1987
Page 49
CHDIR and RMDTR are all commands
built into MSdos. You won’t find pro
grams with those names on your
MSdos disc. Equally, the commands
will always work, whatever disc you
happen to have in a drive.
Creating a directory
MKDIR (or MD) makes a new direc¬
tory. The new directory is put inside
the current one. To make the new
directory inside the root directory, put
a backslash character before the new
name.
For example:
MD iTEsra
creates a new directory called TEST2,
inside the root directory.
If the current directory is TEST and
you typed;
MD TEST2
then TEST2 will be inside TEST and
not inside the root directory.
See the PC 1512 manual or any
MSdos book for more about having
directories within directories. You’ll
find information under PATH or
PATHNAME.
Changing the current
directory
The CHDIR or CD command changes
the current directory. For example, to
make GAMES the current directory,
type:
CD 'GAMES
Most MSdos commands that deal
with files will only look at the current
directory and not the whole disc. There
is a way to tell MSdos to look through a
list of directories if it can’t find what it^S
looking for in the current one. For
details, see the PATH command.
Removing a directory
The command RMDIR or RD removes a
directory. However, you can't remove a
directory unless it contains no files
apart from the and entries
It can’t contain any directories,
either. Gem is not quite so restricting:
You can delete a directoiy (or folder as
Gem w^ould have it) by clicking on the
icon and pressing Alt+d.
'Typing RD l'rEST2
would remove the directory TEST2.
However, if there were files in the
directory it would not be removed and
an error message would be displayed.
To delete all the files in a directory,
change to that directory with the CD
command then use the DEL command.
You can’t remove the current direc¬
tory, or MSdos wouldn't know where it
was when the directory went. It's best
to be in the root directory - which can't
be removed - when you use the RD
command.
Running programs
When you type the name of a program,
MSdos assumes that it will be in the
current directory. For example, if you
type RPED, MSdos will assume that
the file RPED.COM (which is the
RPED program) will be in the current
direcb&ry.
If it isn't, MSdos won't be able to find
the program and you'll get a “Bad
command or file name” error message .
To get round this you can type tbe
directory name before the name of the
program.
For example, suppose RPED is in the
(MSDOS directory, but the current
directory is \LETTERS. If you w^ere to
type RPED you would get an error
message. Typing (MSDOSIRPED at the
prompt would wwk though, and the
RPED editor would be loaded correctly.
Locating files
There's another way of telling MSdos
where to find files. The PATH
command allows you to tell MSdos the
name of a directory which it should look
in if it can’t find a program in the cur¬
rent directory.
For example, if you type the
command;
PA'TH IMSDOS
if the system is unable to find a file in
the current directory (whatever that
happens to be at the time) then before
giving up and producing an error mess¬
age, the (MSDOS directory will be scan¬
ned, If the file is found there, it will be
loaded automatically.
This only works with programs that
you start by typing their name at the
MSdos prompt.
To see w^hat directory you have speci¬
fied in the PATH command, type
PATH at the prompt. To remove the
PATH setting, type PATH
Copying whole
directories
MSdos version 3.2 (the version used on
the PC 1512) has a new command
called XCOPY which allows you to copy
a who-le directory from one disc to
another. If the directory you copy does
not exist on the new disc, it will be
created-
What's more, if the directory you are
copying has more directories inside it
you can ask for these to be copied too,
automatically.
Naturally, when XCQPY copies a
directory it copies every file in it.
XCOPY is fully explained in the
PC1512 book 1.
If you want more information on
XCOPY, and you intend to buy a book
on MSdos, make sure the one you buy
covers MSdos version 3,2,
Listing directories
The TREE command gives you a list of
all the directories on a disc and can also
list out the files in each one. To get a
list of the directories, type:
TREE
at the MSdos prompt. If you type:
TREE/F
then, as vvell as the name of each direc*
tory, you get the list of files that it
contains.
The SUB ST command
This allows you to substitute a direc¬
tory name for a disc drive name. For
example, suppose you have a directory
called (LETTERS, Typing:
SUBST F: (LETTERS
creates a new “disc drive’' called drive
F, which is really the directory called
(LETTERS.
Once you have done this, you could
change to drive F by typing F; and then
do a DIR command. You would see the
contents of the iLETTERS directory.
There are two uses for this command.
Firstly, t>ping F: is quicker than typing
(LETTERS. For example, you could
type COPY 1NV01CE.DOC F: and the
file INVOICE,DOC would be copied bo
the (LETTERS directory.
Secondly, some programs, such as
WordStar, do not understand MSdos
directories and only work with files in
the current directory. ^This refers to
the original WordStar as found on the
IBM PC and not WordStar 1512, which
was specially adapted for the Amstrad.)
WordStar doe.s have some hmitations
as regards directories. But to get round
this, you could set up a new drive, drive
G say, that was really the (DOCU¬
MENT directory.
Then, when you told WordStar to
load and save a file from drive G (which
it will do quite happily), it will really
use the (DOCUMENT directory.
I hope I’ve given you a taste of just
how useful the directory system can be
in MSdos. Used properly, directories
will be able to keep all your discs in
order.
If you have a hard disc, keeping files
in groups is essential. If you use flop¬
pies, then keeping files separate may
mean that you can keep groups of
unrelated files on the same disc, but in
separate directories — and this will save
you money.
ACU
* k ^
r '
.
Page 50
Amstrad User February t987
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4
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I'he Amstrad 6128 has a built-in advantage over most
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Whereas the 6128's built-in disc drive will load the
same programme in seconds.
Wfiich means you don*t waste
valuable playing time loading.
And it also means you can
quickly get into more sophisticated
programmes, using more of the 6l28^s
big 128 K memory.
Loads more business pro gramme s
There are hundreds of games to play on the 6128, but
it also has its serious side.
It can handle spreadsheets, database and account
management programmes.
It can hie and index, produce standard letters and
compile reports.
And it will even keep track of
rates, mortgage and H.R payments for
you if you want it to.
The 6128 comes complete
with green screen or full colour
monitor, as well as keyboard with
I AT-, i.Dfc'RN Ri locuMiir coNNtCT curkv.s- liijcohs.- t:i.i-.t:iKK: supRiiMi-.■ L.'Sih.Kti■ lonNLfctis- jeiUN ■ I'tjwi'.n chy rlmbkj.u*
under
nning.
built-in disc drive.
But if you want still more, additional disc drives,
printers and joysticks are all available.
You could be off and running on a 6128 for as little
as £299 (green screen) or £299 (colour monitor).
At those prices, you won*^t be surprised to learn that
it sells almost as fast as it loads.
mn i GREEN SCREEN ARGIIND
£299
WITH COLOUR MONITOR AROUND
£599
l.il l lMATt 'H-H SMITH WKrfAJ.L.S -AN [5 [;r.)!.JIHMlJ-.FT.NL>FNTtOMI''LrTf:R STOEUi:^-
Please send me more information fast.
Name ---
Address____
_ _ _ 'Bt28/ACU2/S7
The Amstrad 6128.
With disc drive and 128K memory
Amstrad PO, Box 462, Brentwood, bi^sex CMH 4KR
review!
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.CgS3&^:-i'’S880:'
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iiuUiA
' .'liH
^ ^1
Box clever and
stay in control
Networks don't have to be a
thing of the future — thanks to
GIS Red Boxes. Rupert Goodwins
reads between the lines.
A longi^tanding dream of many
technically itidined computer bufTs has
been home control - using a micro to
run electrical appliances around the
house.
Think about it — the computer could
turn on the radio in the morning, then
the kettle. During the night it could
watch rooms using sensors^ and sound
alarms if it detected anything un¬
to wards, Then it could switch on lights
for you when you came home in the
evening and prewarm your wife, er,
electric blanket for you.
While it's possible to do this by con¬
necting everything up to special wires
and leading these to the micro,, this is
obviously messy^ time-consuming and
inconvenient. But it^s also feasable to
send the control signals down the net¬
work that every home's got wired-in
already - the mains.
Sending signals down the mains isn’t
a new idea^ some electricity boards
have been doing it for years to switch
street Lights. The main application in
the home has been ^cordless' intercoms,
and baby alarms that allow you to
eavesdrop on the neighbours rowing.
Ours probably rowed for Cambridge^
they were that good.
Now a system is available for a
number of micros, including Amstrad
CPCs, that can control almost anything
via the mains. It's called Red Boxes,
and it conies from the people (mostly
Chris Curry) who brought you the
Acorn System 1, and tjie Atom, And
they had something to do with the BBC
Micro as well, before leaving Acorn to
form GIS.
The bitz
Red Boxes, as bought^ are, er, red
boxes. For your £139 you get three very
red boxes with mains leads (red) and
plugs (red) hanging off them. They’re
called Red Leader, Red One and Red
Two. The mind biggies.
In reverse order. Red Two is a motion
detector. Plug it into a wall socket, and
if it subsequentially detects movement
in its vicinity it informs on the fact by
sending a signal down the mains. Red
One has a 13 amp socket (red) which it
switches on and off on receipt of the
appropriate mains-bom message. And
then there's Red Leader.
Red Leader has a data socket (black
.. . shame) on it, through which it con¬
nects to whichever computer one owns.
This is where it gets clever. Red Leader
is in fact a fully fledged computer, with
mm, ram and a language^ which con¬
trols as many of its lesser brethren as
are plugged in on the same mains.
The attached computer acts as a ter¬
minal for setting up and programming
only. Red Leader couldn't care less
what computer it is, and once it has
Page 54
Amstrad User February 1987
REVIEW
1
I
\
been programmed the computer can be
disconnected completely.
The boxes come with a complete set
of wall mountings^ which considering
their intended semi-permanent instal¬
lation in a borne is a nke touch indeed.
Red Two especially needs some careful
positioning on a wall to make the best
of its potential, and prevent Tibbies
from triggering the small tactical nuke
youVe got lined up for any blagger that
dares to cross your Hed Threshold.
Setting up is really easy. Plug Red
Two in in the area to be watched, plug
Red One in between some appliance
you want to remotely control (I used a
cassette player for this review, playing
a little Bach) and the mains, and plug
Red Leader into your Amstrad with the
lead supplied.
Turn on your computer, then plug
Red Leader into the mains, A little
technical jiggerypokery later^ and the
Red Control Program Display (in
white) appears on your screen.
Colour coding
The control program displays a list of
red boxes currently plugged into your
system, whether they’re on or off, w^hat
time they’re set to go off (or on) at, and
how long for. It also allows you to set
Red Leader’s internal clocks turn
anything on or off, and also to link
devices together (so the hall light
always comes on w’hen the hall people
detector detects people).
Before you can use a red box you’ve
plugged into the mains, you have to
install it on Red Leader* You do this by
giving it a name, like Light 1 or Detect,
and then typing in its Id. The Id ia a
sequence of four numbers (does Freud
know' this?) totalling some 17 digits
unique to each and every box. This both
gives you a method of identifying boxes
and prevents interference with a neigh¬
bour’s boxes.
All this is accomplished by simple
single key command selection and
typing in numbers where necessary.
When you’ve finished sorting out the
times for everything you can leave Red
l^eader to get on with it and unplug
your computer.
But if you’re really keen^ and w'ant to
go to town on your house, there's Red
Basic. Selecting Quit from the Red Con¬
trol Program leaves you with a 1
prompt. From this you can write pro¬
grams to suit your exact needs.
Red Basic is a bit like BBC Basic
(funnyt that), but with Amstrad-style
EVERY commands to do repetitive
functions. It can also react to messages
coming in by a WHEN command, and
commands the rest of the squadron by
TELL. So a typical program to blast
burglars with a bit of Rach ia
10 WHEN ^AJjUilVr GOSUB
BRAN DENjCONTINUE
20 GOTO 20
30 .branden
40 TELL<^HETTO”,ON)
50 FOR F=« to 4000: NEXT F
60 TELLP*GHETTO"*OFF)j
TELL( “ALARlVr\OFF)
70 RETURN
Line 10 tells Red Leader to go and do
the subroutine called Branden if it gets
a message from ALARM (which is what
Tve previously installed Red Two as).
Line 20 is a bit of electronic thumb-
twiddling. Lines 30 to 70 are the
cassette player activation routine. Line
40 turns the cassette player (which Tve
called “GHETTO’^) on. 50 ia just a delay
to give the intruder a chance to savour
the music. 60 both turns the cassette
player off for the next time, and
re arms Red Two. The CONTINUE is
the equivalent of a RETURN for a
WHEN command*
Devices can be referenced by the
name you give them, or the number
between 0 and 9 Red Basic gives them
when they’re installed.
Programs can be saved to cassette or
disc once finished, and in this and most
other respects Red Basic has been well
designed for the tasks it’s likely to be
put to. It's a bit tricky linking it to any
of your computer’s other functions^
though. I tried to get my modem and
Red I.ieader to work together (phone
home and set the video,,.), but no dice.
Well read
And now the do'cumentation para¬
graph. Not a lot to say about the 50
page booklet, except that it’s red and
seems to cover everything with a fair
amount of detail.
But I would recommend the beginner
programmer to get another book on
Basic before tackling the Red Basic
section. It*s definitely for hardened
hackers only.
There is a bit of a problem in the
section that describes the Id label. It
tells you that the Id is four numbers
separated by commas, and to type it in
exactly as it appears on the label on the
box in question. Well, it appears minus
a comma on my labels, and there was a
bit of confusion at first. But common
sense sorted it out. Overall a competent
manual.
Bottom line time. Red Boxes appear
to be a very good answer to the ques¬
tion "^'But what can you use a computer
for’*. Once the gimmicky fun of using
Arnold to turn on Sue Ellen has gone,
the home security aspects are probably
the most impressive, and likely to make
Red I reader pay its way.
On the minus side I wasn’t very
impressed with Red Leader’s internal
workings. 'The pow'er transformer got
very warm, and appeared to be a little
underrated, especially for something
that's plugged in permanently.
However, I didn’t have any problems
with it in practice.
It’s a shame that there’s no battery
backup to tide the reds over power cuts
and that you can't pass computer data
over the network. But the positive
points, the ease of use, the practicalities
and the potential of the Red Boxes far
outweigh the negative side of things* I
want some.
Product: Red Boxes
Supplier: General Information
Sy.$temSj Croxion Park, Croxtonj
Cambridgeshire PEIS 4SY
ACU
Amstrad U&er February 1987
Page 55
The US departmeint of defend coirie up
with some odd ideas. Comiuissioriiriig
the Village People to record a recruit¬
ing song and producing a m^or film
showing how exciting it is to fly in the
Navy are just two of the things which
go to make America great.
Another two things which make
America great are Tom Cruise, voted
''Hollywood’s Top Gun” by Playboy
magazine, and Kelly McGUlis similarly
voted 'Trime Prospectj female”. They
are the stars of the movie version of
Top Gun - although some people would
claim that the aircraft are the real
stars — and they are also featured on
the loading screen of the computer ver¬
sion in glorious Mode 0.
Unfortunately that is the last you
will see of the dynamic duo. The game
is about flying, not sex symbols. The
mid-air action takes place in your F14
Tomcat, pitting your wits against
another equally matched ’plane.
Digital dogfight
The two player, head-to-head option
make the controls a bit difficult to
operate. The best bet is to go for the two
joystick option, but you either have to
use an Amstrad JY-2 or a joystick split¬
ter, The menu., which offers you the
choice of joysticks or keyboard controls
for one or two players, could have been
Tested
by Simon
Rockman
Tactics
IS
In an evenly matched battle it
important to learn quickly. Winning or
losing depends on your proficiency at
getting your opponent into your danger
zone and at staying out of his,
★ Learn to bank sharply but don't over
do it or you will end up where you
started. Try to get away from the other
plane before turning so that he is in
your sights for as long as possible when
you are facing him.
★ Keep high - it is very easy to crash
into the sea. You can outfly the other
plane, even under computer control,
and force it into the drink, but it is
tricky and not worth the risk. Build
your speed and climb; build and climb
alternately for the fastest rate of
ascent. Getting high allows you to
swoop, building up speed. This is useful
if you want to loom up on the enemy
from behind.
★ Remember which way is up. The
limited style vector graphics don't give
much of a due as to where the sea is. If
in doubt let go of the controls and the
FI 4 will right itself into straight and
level flight.
* When you have just downed one
plane keep climbing. The next one will
then appear a little below you.
* As soon as you leave the carrier
apply thrust and turn. This prevents
the other plane getting you in its sights
before you know what is going on.
* Learn to look at the whole screen.
Most of your time will be spent looking
at the radar, but keep an eye on your
opponent's screen. The damage
indicator will help you to decide
between missiles and bullets the next
time he is in your sights. Your rival’s
horizon tells you which direction the
other F14 is going in, and helps you to
avoid the danger zone. Keep an eye on
the sights, and be prepared to drop a
flare when a missile appears,
* You can’t 'VifT’. OK, so only Jump
Jets can really viff but you cannot fool
the computer into overtaking you by
braking too hard,
* Don’t mess with Charlie.
better designed. The red^ white and
blue logo looks good enough but press-
ing fire on the joystick puts you
straight into the ganiie with keyboard
control.
The options are re-set at the start of
every game, but you soon learn not to
be too trigger happy.
To the background music of the track
“Dangerzone'^ the rival planes launch
from remarkably similar looking air-
crad carriers set against remarkably
similar looking backgrounds.
The graphics on this screen are stun¬
ning and provide a stark contrast with
those which follow, two monochrome
windows with a single line across the
width of each window.
Controls
This is when you try to remember what
the instructions said. Top Gun is per¬
haps the simplest flight simulator the
Amstrad has seen^ no messing with an
undercarriage or flaps. In many ways it
is to flying what Elecktraglide is to
driving, simple, fast and exciting.
This does not mean that it is inaccur¬
ate; unfettered by details, the handhng
has been tweaked, the planes are less
stable at low speed and handle badly
when inverted.
Still, even a grossly simplified ver¬
sion of a multi-million dollar F-14 has
to have some instruments. A head up
display (MUD to the pros) shows your
height and speed. Dashboard-mounted
controls show you the plane's attitude -
dive, climb or level flight with several
readings in between. Your angle of
ascent or descent has an important
effect on your speed.
In a dogfight it is more important to
know where your foe is than where you
are yourself. The radar shows your
position in the centre and the bandit in
relation to it. Only one plane attacks
you at a time so the radar doesn't get
too confusing.
Sticks and stones will bounce ofi‘ an
F~14, but bullets will really hurt you.
How much damage you have sustained
is shown by an indicator. You are OK
while the meter is still true blue, but
when it gets into the red you've got
something to worry about, and he's
usually on your tail pumping bullets at
you.
That's not the worst of it. If you’re
really unlucky he won't be shooting
bullets but missiles. A light on the
instrument panel will warn you of this
and allow you to take evasive action.
No human player seemed to have the
knack of out-flying heat-seeking mis¬
siles, but the computer managed it.
Mere mortals can confuse the side¬
winder menace by dropping flares.
Even smart missiles can't wwk out
what to blow to kingdom come without
being told - they need to !ock-on. In
Elite they do this instantly, but a Cobra
Mk m is a little better equipped than a
Tomcat F14.
Twentieth century missiles take
three seconds to work out what you are
going on about. And I thought that the
bomb in Dark Star was dumb. These
seconds tick away on a bar graph. Keep
the blighter in your sights for long
enough and he will have the biggest
and last shock of his life just after you
squeeze the trigger.
Even shooting at your foe is limited
by the gun temperature. If it overheats
you have to wait. A thermometer
warns of this impending restriction.
Two gauges show the weapon in use,
the dash-mounted one is rendered
pointless by the gun sights. A cross¬
hair points to the destination of your
huUete, a box indicates missile mode
and the absence of any aiming device
suggests that pressing the button wiU
release a flare.
'''
: m ■
Altitude
I
Speed
Player 1 view
The same inalruments apply for
either player 2 or the computer.
Angle of climb/fail
Thrust indicator
Missile warning
Cannon temperature
Miatile
Radar countdown
Damage indicator
IVeopon indicator
C - Cannon
M —
F — Flare
Amatrad User February 19^87
Page ST
TASWORD 6128
THE WORD PROCESSOR FOR THE AMSTRAD CPC 6128
Tas-diahv
THE BliCTRONiC DiARY
TAS-DiARY for the A msfrarf CPC €^28, £64 And
464 with disc drive disc £13.90
Keep an electronic day-to-day diary orr disci
TAS~DiARY features a dock, calendar and a
separate screen display for every day of the
year. Each year stored on disc mclodes a memo
pad arj^ several note pages. TAB-DIARY is an
invahable aid to keeping records, reminders,
and any other data which is related to that
most valuable commodity of ours — time!
TASWORDei38
THE WORD PROCESSOR
TASWORD 6128 for the Amstrad CPC 6123
disc £34.99
Brilliant value for money.
AMSTRAD ACTIOH December 1985.
A powerful and easy to use word processor and a
superb data merge program.
AMTIX December 1985.
TASWORD 6128 is the vifordprocessor espedaily
developed to utilise the extra memory Irj the CPC
6128
The program yses^ii the additional 64K ofmemoty
m the CPC 6128 as space. This means that text
files can be around ten thousand words long.
TASWORD 6128 indudes a built-in data merge
program. Mail rnerge. In which a letter is printed any
number of times, each individually addressed to a
different person, is just one of the appUcations of dfis
powerful facilrtYr
The notepads are a unique feature of TASWORD
£123 Four separate notepads are available. Typing
reminders and storing tetter headings are jus f two
possible appiicabons for the notepads.
Up to one thousand characters can be stored in ten
userdehnable keys allowing commonly used words,
sentences, or even paragraphs to be typed with a
single keypress.
TASWORD 6128 has comprehensive customisation
features. These allow many of dje program facilities
to be changed to personal requirements. A
customised program can be saved and includes the
notepads and user definable keys.
TASWORD 6128is fully compa tlble widi TAS^SPEL L
and TASPRfNT. It will also read in data from
Masterfile6128. it can even beusedto enterandedit
your ovm Basic programs.
With all standard and many extra word processing
facilities TASWORD 6123 is the most powerful of me
TASW0/?DS, for the Amstrad CPC computers.
TASWORD 4€4~D
THE WORD PROCESSOR - WfTH MAIL MERCEI
TASWORD 464-D disc £ 34.95
This is the new TASWORD especially developed tp
utilise the capabilities of the CPC 464and664 disc
drives. The additiorral facilities include a largertext fife
size and automatic on-screen disc directohes
during sa ve and had operations. A major new
feature is the mail merge facility. This ^ves multiple
prints of your standard letters, forms, etc., with each
copy containing, for example, a name and address
automatic^ly taken from a disc file containing the
data. This date can be entered using TASWORD
464-D, or created using the Masterfile Program
Extension package. A powerful and usefuf
conditionaf printing facif/ty is included-parts of a
documentcsn beprintedaccording to user-specified
criteria. TASWORD464-D wiH oniy run on, and is
only supplied on, disc.
Tas-spell
THE SPELLING CHECKER
TAS-SPELL disc £14.59
for the Amstrad CPC464and 664running
TASWORD 464-D and for the CPC 6128 rvnrflng
TASWORD 6128
Spelling mistakes and typing errors spoil any
document whether it is a pnva te letter or your la test
novel. With TAS-SPELL ^u are free to be creative in
the confident knowledge that your spelling won *t let
you down.
TAS-SPELL checks the spelling of TASWORD 464-D
and TASWORD 6128 text hies. TAS-SPELL has a
dictionaryofwellovertwenty thousand words which
it compares with the words in your text If a word Is
not recognised then the relevant pad of your text is
displayed with the suspect word mghiigh ted. You
can correctihe word, i^orert (itmightbea name), oi"
even add it to the TAS^S^LL dictionary.
Please note that TAS-SPELL wilionly work ivrt/r
TASWORD 464-D and TASWORD 6128.
TASW€MD
Upgrades
TASWORD 464and Amsword owners; send your
Offgifiai cassette or disc ffTO^ the packaging} as proof
of purchase and £13.90 Your originafvilfbe
returned together with TASWORD 464- D or
TASWORD 6128on disc.
TASPRINT464
THE STYLE WRITER
TA5FftlNT464cassette £9,99 disc £13,90
A must for dot-ma trix print ownersi Print your
program output and iistngs in a choice of five
impressive print styles. TA5PRINT 464 utilises the
graphics capabilities of dot-matrixphnters to form,
with a double pass of the printhead. Output in a range
of five fonts varying from the futuristic DATA-RUN
to the hand- writing style of PA LACE SCRIPT.
TASPRiNT 464 drives the dot-ma trixprin ters iisted
below and can be used to print AMSWORD/
TASWORD 464 text files. TASPRINT 464gives your
Ddl^pJJ^ originality and Style. Completely compatible
with the664 and 6128
TASWORDoea
THE WORD PROCESSOR
TASWORD 464 cassette £19,95
‘ There is no better justification for buying a
464 than this program "
POPUtAR COMPUTING WEEKLY,
NOVEMBER 1934
Your464becomes a professkmaf standard word
processor with TASWORD464. Supplied complete
with a comprehensive manual and a cassette i^ich
contains bath the program and TASWORD 464
TUTOR. This teaches you word processing using
TASWORD464, Whether you have seriolis
applications or simply want to learn about word
processing. TASWORD464and the TUTOR make it
easy and enjoyable.
Tascopyaea
THE SCREEN COPIER
JASCOPy464 casseffe £9,90 disc £13^9
A surteof fast machine code screen copy software for
the CPC464, 664and 6128 Print high-resolution
screen copies in black and wd/te andalso large
"shaded' copies with different dot densities tor die
various screen coloufS. TASCOPY 464 also produces
‘poster size ' screen copies printed onto (wo or four
sheets which can be cut and joined to make the
poster.
TASPRINT464 and TASCQPY464 drive the
foihwing dot-matrix printers:
iWiWfWMwv S7iwjnw5fff.'^5?s
ffSCWflK-S? m?T«WWW 5 COSMOS®
uwhua-ae fflOrnFArtiTciiw oir.fl£:.flMNrhfw MxSTfiADrM'JOOO
£Psoi<im30Tmiii i^fCKSis-fi OATAcmfmp.il
I
Page &8
Amstrad User February 1987
TASWORD8000
THE WORD PROCESSOR FOR THEAMSTRAD PCW8256AND 8512
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TASWORD 8000
mf WOf?D PROCESSOR
TASWORD 8000 ivi {he PCW 8256 tnd 8512 di^c *24,99
TASWORD 6000 affrrs 3 fajl ftfJfJ'ibJe ^pprodch to WOfd prccesiing on the PCWS256
and 85 J2
TASWORO SOOO has been eipeci^Hy devehped io make use of the unique feitufts of the
PCW computers, utitisieg ALL of the farge memofy buiit into these machines, your
documentcan be needy onehundfed thousand characters ktng on PCWS256 and of/er
800,000 characters iong on the PCIV 85J2 That's errough noorti for over 100 pages!
TASWORDSOOO fs fastfWith afi of your £^c3c^meJTf frf/tf irj memory at arty orte lime,theTe
i4 no need for program to access the disc as >xi 4 j rnove through your teict. Cursor
commands afhw the user to move through the text trotheasiiy ar\d qufckfy evert with very
long documents. TASWORD SOOO allows you to mokfie rapidly fa ffre start or end of
yOur ff<f and to ANY hne or page number.
TASWORD 8000 ri remarkahiy easy to use. ybu carr krew/ detailed heip dhplays AT TH£
^M£ nrt/lf as you are lypmg.The defajJ«f matyual and the mteractive TASWORD BOOO
fL/rOft suppiied nvjfjfr the program mean you can be producirtg quality documents
irnrnediateiy - you only need fo read cme page of the comprehensive program rrranual
before using WSIVORD BODOf
TASWORD SOOO includes a sophisticated set of print options which aSlowyou to print any
part of your document, automaticaiiy nurnber pages and print headers and footers
Printing muHipie copfff of a document is easy - just enter the number of copies required.
TASWORD SOCC can be used to take full advaolage of ANY printer connected to the
PCW via thfAmstrad paralhi/sehal interface.
DATA MfRCE. !W5WCJffP 8000 mctudes the power fut Tssword mail merge facility, Tbu can
store a list of jTJitirs acf<^fesfas off disc and JSiword' wil! print your ietler. each
individuaily addressed,to each of your irftended reapients.The TASWORD mail merge is
open-ended and flexible - storing names arid addresses is just one application. Printing
can be made conditional, jusl send a letter tip addresses in London, for example.
TASWORD SOOO inciudes of the unique TASPRINT 8000 fonts (tecturs Light and
Median}. This gives you two new unique typestyles on the PCW printer. The JASRRINT
fonts give your printed documents a very special appearance and have great impact
wdejT used tor headings within your text.
Wrftt Jtreitf, 3 nd a host of other useful fea tures sut/i as a permanent word count,
TASWORD 8000 is a fast and flexible approach to wo^ processing on the Amstrad
PCW 8256 and 6512
Avsitahie from good stockisH And direct from:
TASPRENT 8000
TH8 STYLE WRITER
_ TASRRINT 6800 for the Amstrad PCW 8256 and 85 i 7 dhcl 94,90 _
TASPRtNTSOOQ ccfnsistsof a further six fantf that can be used »v,if/r W-^WOi^DaXJO'fo
exfffrTd and enhance the vanety and appearance of your printed documenis.tn addition,
iivM TASPRINT SOOO ycm can print files from disc onto the PCW printer in one of the eight
TASPRINT8000 fo/Tt^j. TASPRlNT8000 utilises the graphics printing capability of the PCW
printer and the printed text is double the height afnormal text- fdfeat for notices, posters,
and fcrr headings within documents.
TAS-SPELL 8000
THE SPELLtm CHECKER
TA^ SRELL SbCC for the Amsirad RCW 8256 and 8512 disc £i*.30
The spelling checker for TASWORD 3000, TA 8 -SPELL 8000 checks the spelling of your
TASWORD 8000 text and any other text in standard ASCII format.
mbDAcm
data fliitl ” fl flitUBISTIC j g to read
E?CTI^U0HT -
nEDIFIN -
5 1 pOl^ itRJP3
* D
Springfield House, Hyde Terrace, Leeds LS 2 9 LN. TeL ( 0532 } 43 S 301
Ifycfudonotwanttpcutthismagaiine. simply write out your order and post ip: TaSMANSOFTWAR.E, DEFT CC, SPRlNGffELD HOUSE, HYDE TERRACE. LEEDS iS 79 LN
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1 ITEM
1 NAME
FRfCE
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■ TeleptKr]eAcceii.'ViiJturdeff Lredi{Q9J2WS301
1 Please send me a PJ?ff rjjjftjirt prochurr drxnbing yourpipdiicts tor: the Amstrad CPC a64.664 arKS612S[Ji tfte Amstrari PCWA256 and 951J Q ftir
TOTAL £
j^miFud PCT5IJD-
cc 1
aw™ ny Joniriimkirttraip'WLTmlic^ iilMWOfi iWfZPSLWSmvfi™^Effort Ci* JJWiifl™ Cemx SCAhCVHtiKA l£(*drti “stikiTfJ
OlraMifirA USX .Vtnn iifWilmiF 1*^ W
xriiua ow .wmtiAmfXfwif. twas* ^jdjh
Aimna, .’i^^aan WikcXX* nrwCF*iMC>Sllt^VSW^
Ail TASMAN 464 so^Wdre is foify compatibh ivtfh the 664and6128
A{( prices inciade Vfl T. postage and packaging.
Amstrad User February 1987
Pa^e S9
I
I
thf Bingirouily Sii
BEVIEW
Uskaie la
You are flodtinq on air. , ,, ,
Beloi ran cm 5es i fort' *“ f*l' t'"*'''’’
it. « first, ran IWP* f"“ *” 3“‘"5
twcDKS ipiilffnt tlijt rau Sfi"? t“ '*"<1 of i rjthsr
pr.uy builiing. Tht iMl y»“ * coLrlyjrd «ith i cojch
stindisg i« it, "«t to tbs boiiding .ra» ro»f you m« rtout to
doiolifh, md then your sen... i.hich stmted som ti.e igol Snddeniy
flits off iS you
Your Hotel Hooi
4ih0
Chateleoft the Difficult to See
Caz
AnqeUhl the Datigeroutly Sam
Tiger Tiger
shout hiya again
n
1(10 Yard
Tiger Tiger shouti| 'Hi Chatay'
n
Covered Hay
Arab 6iteniY .... l. 4,
A dead Arab guard is crui(^lld in a doorsay to the iest.
0 ...
Afigeliod the Dingerously Sane shouti, 'Hi Chany
Hiidan
e
tL guard leads you along the grove of te^«^|M
takes you Ibi and bitU diffidently out.
Blob's Teiple
The guard has left you a tekple const
The structure nobbles in the uind.
tenplcSg andf to the Vest, peiCifuyB^S9fl^^pMM|MpB|pH|^BI|
nearby. Angelina the Dangerously Sane gi
of any sign of psychological abnortility.
dances to the sound of soie distant druiierl/He
albuts^ Mlkian, badges and pop ieiorahiliai a T
iMord. Tiger Tiger is prouling around here, ^
sects very related, in spite of it all. ! %
If i Lie ?
Soily says, '1 gotta go and run a progrti, C U a^,^ |
-i^v. *'
I Cii saysi 'Hi Chaiey' iv^
i
/ %
|y
You have landed in The Lap of The
Gods and just outside your hotel room
is a whole new world to explore.
Sometimea dangerous, often funny,
in credibly addictive, it is most of aU fun.
A relative newcomer in the multi
uaer game field, Gods — as it is affec¬
tionately known - breaks the normal
mould of auch games to provide an
environment where cooperation
between the players gets you further
than the more traditional '"hack and
slay'' approach of some other MXJGs.
Playing Gods is more like being at a
huge social gathering than playing an
adventure. Like most MUGa, you
explore the world searching for Treas¬
ure - or T - with which to increase your
magical reserves. Some is just lying
about for you to pick up if you know
where to look, but often quite
convoluted puzdes need to be solved to
gain access to the more valuable items.
A really good one nearly had me
tearing my hair out until I saw the
solution.
Passes make points
Just collecting the T isn't the end of the
story though. You may either offer it
straight up to the Gods in the temple,
or, to get more points, you can pass it to
a player who is of holy rank.
When that player offers it to the
Gods you both get more points than if
you had offered it alone. Quite complex
rituals can take place when there are
several different ranks of holies
playing, and confusion often reigns as
everyone passes the T around.
Half the fun is trying not to pass it
back to someone who has already had it
Tiger Tiger tiys, 'at tJk'
say bye by? Snily
Soily layif 'Byeeee'
Page 60
Amstrad User February 1987
(S.--.COQC.
m. - .. ^ j
COO j 5 :■ K: i coo;"/ ocoj
.:£g0:"'- '.e
ooo . ■ - oco
REVIEW
Multi-user games are the most
expensive adventures you'll ever come
across — played down a modem your
phone bill goes through the roof as
your characters grow in strength.
Chris Wood is our guide.
or who is of the wrong rank. Amid this
general mahem and confusion several
convergations are usually going on
which makes for a very enjoyable
game.
One thing guaranteed to keep you on
your toes is the flash of lightning the
Gods use in order to destroy any T that
is not passed correctly. The perpetrator
is fined a large amount for such a
mistake. This breaks the ice, making it
easier to get to know people than if the
only real option was to either steal from
them or kill them for the T.
The Gods are fairly strict on discip¬
line in the temple too - no spitting,
stealing or fighting is allowed inside^
although a lot of kissing and cuddling
certainly goes on!
A wide range of actions and emotions
is available, with more verbs being
added all the time. Currently you can
Smile, Laugh, Guffaw, Cry, Burp,
Giggle, Blush, Grin, Snort, Frown,
Kiss, Cuddle, Stare, Smirk, Spit, Kill,
Steal and Whimp. More actions will
have been added even as I write.
Thud and blunder
Most people in the game are of non¬
violent persuasion, and although you
can certainly kill people you get no
points for doing so. A recent develop¬
ment is the fighter class persona for
those of us who really feel more at
home hacking and slaying.
Most people have a fighting persona
for skirmishes and quite often huge
impromptu pitched battles take place
while onlookers spur the combatants
on.
If you get killed you lose half your
points to the victor but, as not many
people have survived very long, their
fighter is not a threat to anyone else -
except for one.
Grim the Grim is the fighting per¬
sona of a certain Grimly Fiendish and
she IS a formidable warrior who looks
like being the first person to get to
Devil — or She Devil - the eventual evil
equivalent of a God. Fighters be
warned!
You must travel through several
ranks before becoming holy. Starting
as Scum and working your way up
through Nonentity, Riff-Raff, Salt of
the Earth and several others you reach
the lowest religious rank of Initiate.
Thereafter as you rise through the
religious ranks to Monk, Priest and
accelerate towards that elusive goal of
God your T increases in value when you
offer it. As your stature increases in the
game so too do your magical powers
with which to cast spells.
This spells trouble
Spells currently available include
WHERE for finding out where someone
is, SUMMON for fetching or helping
lesser beings should they be lost and
JOIN, which is the opposite of
SUMMON .This is especially useful
when you are in a hurry to get to that
battle or conversation.
Others currently available to only a
select few are due to filter down to the
lower ranks. These are WATCH to see
just what that naughty guest is doing,
and FORCE to make someone execute
a command.
Of course the higher ranking you get,
along with the increase in power you
also have an increased resistance to
people using spells on you, just to keep
things fair.
The players
Lap of the Gods Ltd consists of the
sysop Tiger Tiger (usually known as
Tiger), his assistant, Major Malfunc¬
tion, and Lucy. Advertised on what was
then the LWTC bulletin board last
year, Gods saw its first player other
than Tiger on Christmas Eve 1985.
Since then the system has outgrown
the front room it was in - not to
mention the house - and after being
transplanted to a semi homebrew VME
Bus 68000 Unix system running a ver¬
sion of Uniplus, Tiger installed four
extra phone lines in the new premises,
thus allowing himself to actually talk
on the phone again.
Several members soon became
attracted to Gods, such as Angelina the
Dangerously Sane, Lucy, Locoman the
Prof reader (sic), the fierce Grimly
Fiendish, and M^or Malfunction.
These founder members, along with
Tiger, have helped to pi ay test the game
into vaguely the form it is today. After
its initial success more phone lines
were added to the point where
presently eight people can be on the
game at a time, in addition to Major,
Tiger and Lucy.
A growing world
The machine is capable of handling up
to 16 players, and as soon as more
people subscribe Tiger will be getting
the lines plumbed in. The machine
keeps growing all the time and will
soon be upgraded to run on 60020
boards which will be able to cope easily
with 200 players at a time. This, inci¬
dentally, will also allow it to run three
times faster than a VAX 11/780 on
which Mud 2 runs.
Other players have contributed lots
of time and energy to Gctds and are well
on their way to getting their own
temples. Tarim (the terrible), Bug
Finder Extraordinaire, is currently the
highest ranking player behind Tiger
himself and is well on his way to God.
Hot on his heels and catching up fast is
Argon the Noble (Twinkle Toes) with
Jurgen a little way behind him.
Things should really start to hot up
in the next Few months as the various
Gods will have to woo the lesser players
to their temple in order to gain the
most points and indeed to stay as Gods,
as doing God-like things like creating
new locations will be very expensive in
terms of Magical Reserves,
Goda have the ability to create whole
new rooms, objects, puzzles and T,
which will become permanent additions
to the ganie, so it will always keep
having something extra to explore.
Objects can be useful, like weapons or
carrying containers, or red herrings, or
just plain fun,
l.ratest addition to the game is a
camera. Typing SNAP will cause a
little imp to paint a picture of what you
see and pop out of the camera and hand
Amstrad User February 19187
Page 61
Pag'e 62
you the photo. You can pass it around
and it may even be possible to make the
photos valuable at a later date.
At the moment though, they arc a
very useful way of seeing yourself as
others see you. This may sound
strange, but you have the option to
include a brief description of yourself
which people will see whenever they
enter a location with you in it. There
are examples in the text below.
There is also the option to have your
own customised hotel room into which
you can invite people for a private chat.
Soily, for example is sitting in the
front row of the Hammersmith Odeon,
enjoying a pop concert, vrhereas Blue
Adept has a Unicorn drinking from a
fountain in a large marble room of a
palace somewhere. Spot the Dog is in
his idea of heaven - a lampoat testing
factory.
A God will have the ability to bestow
favours on lesser players^ such as
giving them the temporary ability to
kill a particularly nasty guard standing
over a piece of T. Only if the person
subsequently offers it up to the right
God when they have got it, of course!
Gods is being constantly added to and
improved. At the moment all the
players are able to access all the T,
assuming they can work out the
puzzles. But as more and more people
are becoming holy, new T for holy
ranks only is soon to be introduced.
This means that . as you in¬
crease in rank you have access to more
parts of the adventure with a new
supply of puzzles and T.
This is to cut down on the inevitable
race for the T that occurs after each
reset and soon there will be randomis¬
ation of a few of the key pieces of T so
more people have a chance of getting it.
Resetting the game after all the T
has been “Blobbed” (the present, and
only God is called Blob) is done in a
very democratic manner too. After half
an hour a bell appears on the pier and
everyone playing at that time must
ring it before the game will reset.
This gives people a certain leeway
should there be conversations or pri¬
vate battles going on about the game.
Of the original 2,000 planned loca¬
tions, more than 1,000 are imple¬
mented. This number will grow when
the newer puzzles and Holy T are
introduced, as well as when the Gods
start creating new locations.
The current locations are divided into
several differing time zones and areas,
such as the African Jungle, complete
with man eating tigers that attack on
sights the Colleseum and the Town
around the port. A space age section is
soon do to be added.
Another thing planned - Tiger is
certainly not short of ideas - is Hireable
mobiles (mobiles are computer
generated characters). You could hire a
mobile to follow you around> protecting
you from other possibly aggressive
players, or guarding doorways while
you battle with a puzzle to get to that
elusive new bit of T you are sure is
nearly within your grasp.
You will also be able to have battles
in the Arena which people will be able
to ’watch from the Grandstand. This
gives you a view over several locations
at once and betting will be allowed on
the outcome of the various battles
An example of solving one of the
sinpler puzzles is given below. The
problem is to get hold of the Rod, a
medium value piece of T. The awful
spoof idea involved gives you an exam¬
ple of some of the humour running
throughout Gods
I have included some text of when I
was but a guest, and met Tarim for the
first timCj with dire results. He did keep
his promise though. The final bit of text
is Tiger himself telling how and why
Gods w’as born.
For anyone wanting more details
about Gods, Angelina the Dangerously
Sane runs The Gods Slot on Prestel,
Page number 81052, which contains
some 20 pages of introduction, all the
updates to the game since its start, how
to register and use it and a section on
the new fighter class personas.
The hardware and software of Gods
is available to anyone who is interested
in running their own MUG, and details
can be obtained from the address given
below.
tkids is available on 01-994 9119
after 6pm weekdays and all day
weekends. Speeds are 1200/75 and
300/300 although the farmer is much,
easier to use, protocol is 8 bits, no
parity.
For those who want a taste of Gods to
see if you like it^ there is a guest
account which allows you 15 minutes of
play. Should you decide to join registr¬
ation costs £25 and lasts for three
months. This is unfortunately likely to
change.
There are no other charges apart
from your phone bill, which certainly
makes it easily the cheapest MUG
around, hour for hour. Tf you have
neither a computer or a modem (jods
can supply those too, details from the
same address.
Lap of the Gods Ltd, 166, Portohelh
Road, London Vi’11 2EB
Tei: 0U256 8427
Registration fee: £25 plus VAT
Gods number. Tel: 01-994 9119
Aecount: Guest
Password: Guest 8 bits no jocri^.
Pne^!r^e^ page no. 81052
ACU
Amstrad User February 1987
THE ONLY OFFICIAL
rAMSTRAD USER CLUB
and AMSOFT MAIL ORDER
BRINGS YOU
OFFER ALSO AVAILABLE ON DISK AT £29.95 TO MEMBERS for n 1.85 each}
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Much more than just another drawing programnne, EASIART will
ama^e you with its versatility. This easy-to-use programme
packed with useful features, including
* Rollerball, nnouse or joystick options
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.... and much, rnuch, nvore at only £14.41 (members),
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I non membefsl
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I Non-members £14.95 (£2.99 each)
LOCOMAIL and LOCOSPELL
Available from stock NOW
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WORD PROCESSOR
Compose a letter, set the
print-out options using
embedded commands or
menus, use the mail merge
facility to produce personalised
circulars — and more!
DATABASE
Build up a versatile card index,
use the flexible print out
routine, do powerful multi-field
sorting, perform all arithmetic
functions, link with the word
processor — and more!
LABEL PRINTER
Design the layout of a label
with the easy-to-use editor,
select label size and sheet
format, read in database
files, print out in any
quantity ^ and morel
Mini Office II offers the most comprehensive, integrated
suite of programs ever written for the Amstrad — making it
the most useful productivity tool yet devised,
A team of leading software authors were brought
together to devote a total of 26 man years of programming
to the development of Mini Office IL What they have
produced is a package that sets new standards in home and
business software.
The sample screenshots above illustrate just a few of the
very wide range of features* many of which are usually
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accessed by using cursor keys to move up and down a list of
options and pressing Enter to select.
Is it that easy to use? Several leading reviewers have
already sung its praises on this very point.
Yet possibly the best advertisement for Mini Office II is
that it comes from the same stable that produced the
original Mini Office package back In 1984.
That was so successful It was shortlisted in two major
categories of the British Microcomputing Awards - the
Oscars of the industry - and sold in excess of 100,000 units!
It was up to Mini Office II to take over where the first
Mini Office left off, with 32 extra features, two additional
modules, a program to convert existing Mini Office files to
Mini Office II format, and a 60 page, very easy to follow
manual.
This is the package ihousands of Amstrad owners have
been waiting for - and at a price everyone can afford!
SPREADSHEET
Prepare budgets or tables,
tola) columns or rows with
ease, copy formulae absolutely
or relatively, view In either 40
or 80 column modes, recalculate
automatically — and more!
GRAPHICS
.be matched!
Enter data directly or load data
from the spreadsheet, produce
pie charts, display bar
charts side by side or
stacked, overlay line
graphs — and more!
COMMS MODULE
Using a modem
you can access services
such as MIcroLink and
book rail or theatre tickets,
send electronic mail, telex and
telemessages in a flash -- and more!
DATABASE SOFTWARE
Piease sertci me MinJ Office ll
*Add £2 Enr EuTiQpe £1'4,95* ■ 6096 I
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ACUM3
jjggQQ
REVIEW
Weighing up
the prose
and cons
Arnor — a well established name in CPC
circles — has already made a foray into
PCW waters with ProSpell. Now Protext
has been added to the stable and Simon
Rockman has been putting it to the test
With so many different Amstrad com¬
puters on the market it is e?; pensive for ^
a soflware house or shop to keep stock
of different products which share the
same essential core*
CP/M Protext will run on a CPC
ei28, PCW S256 and PCW 8512.
Producinji software which can do this is
not too difficult. Ensuring that it uses
the machine you have to the fiilliest
takes a bit more care.
It is this installation which makes
setting up Protext a little confusing^
particularly if you have never used a
computer before. However.. Amor has
done its best to automate the procedure
by including two files called MAKE
PCW and MAKECPO - follow these
carefully and you will end up with a
start of day disc.
After you have used this for a little
while you will want to customise
Pretext for your needs. This can be
done by editing a program file called
SETUP* Arnor supplies this in a form
which is easy to modify. PCW 8512
users will find it particularly beneficial
to copy some of the file to the ram disc
and to set up a temporary work file in
ram.
A CONFIG file determines many of
the default values in the software and
can be edited for further fine tuning -
even to produce eye-straining black
text on a green background if that^s
your fancy.
A start of day disc can be used to
start up a PCW’^ in the same way as a
LocoScHpt system disc.
Using Protext on a PCW can be dis¬
concerting for anyone used to LocO“
Script. The menus have been replaced
by a command mode and the header by
a ruler and a set of embetJded command
codes*
WordStar uses dot commands to
define things like printer control codes
and force page breaks. This makes life
difficult when using another system,
such as Telecom Gold, which also uses a
dot in the first column to signify a
specal function*
Protext uses the > symbol and has
embedded codes which replace all the
features of a LocoScript layouts. They
are handled as text and can be saved
and merged as blocks when you have
templates you like. Unlike layouts they
cannot be numbered.
So if you have two different layouts,
say one for a stage instructions and
another for spoken text, then you will
have to put in a new template each
time. However, if they only vary
slightly you need only mark the dif¬
ferences and not use too much memory.
Command mode
Major functions such as loading and
saving are performed from outside the
document. This takes a little getting
used to but is just as fast as the Loco-
Script menu system. There is a huge
range of these* each detailed by the
extensive help system.
My favourites include the Count
command which will count the number
of words in the whole text or just
marked blocks, and Calc which will
handle simple arithmetic with the
option to insert the answer into the
text. Both are ideal for working out
how much an article is worth.
Even l.ocoScript’s direct print fea¬
ture has been replicated by the TW
(typewriter) mode. Direct Print was
supposed to l>e used for short jolxs like
writing compliments slips but I find it
more of an effort to use than finding a
pen for jotting a quick note.
The commands are quite intelligent.
Typing m on a PGW will switch Uj drive
M* whereas typing m filename.txt will
merge a file. The abbreviations for the
commands are obvious and make quite
complicated functions very fast.
Seasoned emigrants from CPC Amsdos
Protext will feel very much at home.
lyocoScript Find and Exchange was
one of the last functions to be added
and although it is very friendly it is
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FtVB livUicA
wss/isitCuH*
***1 ,^11
till!
uul UH
eLitf wfir ii%t
iK^ir rliA riti
MdnHH) scriil iifftMivt
Conftg allows you to tailor l^rotext to suit your needs
Page 66
Amstrad User February 1987
REVE^
Text can be entered in
either Document or
Program mode. By
writing in Document
mwle and then
changing to Program
mode you Ccin create
an Affcii ffte.
\ —
The name of the file
you are working on,
4fara be on any drive.
The of the text is
shousn in anlihe
Ammlm Protext which
gives the information
in bytes^
Text can be either
justi/ied or ragged, but
this setting applies to
the whale document —
it cannot be cha nged
halfway through.
joartejit i>ro'.?s(i.cph
Ljiii? 43 C(5l ^0
p:iqnl-JU3Ut^
he rt^.rkpfi sft
L"-”"!".I——1.]-!-1--—8
tiF f i 11 .changts^Jior
usil 9 aidtf.is Aggii)9 ^favow *usars JiaveJallwHL
ms iraa 'S^sugg^st i tm* 1 kHenK i. • Mow*tOiiHgc.cMMikU
Jiavt *iaclud^ ^it JvliLLfiiiaAtMmCur&or*'
MudwjMir«Asai I s fae Ur y.
Naay^oof 1 0«Hia Ut inMul t ip 1 e^cop i «s ^ kth i s* i s« jUMuehJiora*
ria 1 is t L c*ri^i st*g i va^thoAOpt i oiu tOiiHse*iAfa sWr int«r. *liu# of f i
|h i duhas^Li^ttoe op i er & i U i or«.tOiiji(r iat«.oni;««aTdAC op^tU^ost .fi—
Fr otex Lv 11 la U Wi^uF«t««£ 5 S«qqp i is«o famudoouNfiit V Sjiugwi^
jot*thaU yaiucaiupr i niaTn«ed i taUtho^sueAt im j ^prov laingAyoii^va^
mid iic^ space.
♦'
SMothin9«LH i s soMbeiuLgavaiiiiPjitordStar* iMa ip tAiNiS 4 L
fcMJ hmujio ve. ALva 1 101*00001 a*ia*u£0*iUa9aiitdH 1 tn*rr« Vnet p *
th«Jwxo ode* i s*s iwl o*to*u5 e*iiKUi>r av ido Snic wo*r orAS mt aCT oat ive*
pagoA layouts, o'
B locludo 1 etc SAcaMe*
I UcMovo. • nKreor fA
1 lexiDloAasALocoScr ipt
a¥
H(MAOftoiuhave«youiJ
Ajuf oaturciJHhiducaiubiAy SI AtMiifl ic Aa*
unat ioTulcogsAaidAphrasHAiA icJiarfAnotAgu it Oa^Sa
Sa**
nmm.'i uc
l + J Kvoxl find
I’l vrovious
sot lileck ft?rker
CftH cle.^r n^rJt^ri
iuttch riecurt^nti
to cep 14 block acrest
FflSfL ftov* M(jck
COFV cm }>icck
Cyi riPloU block
IB bo>: fi-o:^o
tijii flArker
ttoltipio rtarkor
ti+J 90 to oej<t fiarkor
-TE'] tiarkoi
Insert and Overwrite
modes allow you to
correct mistakes very
quickly.
Hard spaces can be
displayed as grey
triangles or hid^n
/rum ticHJ, Sofi spaces^
'put in by the
automatic
fustification^ do not
show up.
Carriage returns and
.tabs, effectors to
LocoSeript can be
shaicn or hidden.
Paragraphs are not
automatically
reformatted, this area
of text is still ragged
despite the setting to
right-Justify above^
■ A comprehensive set of
help menus speeds up
learning to use
Protext, this wotki best
if you copy the help
ftle to the PCWs ram
disc.
Frotext in Edit Mode
always case specific and cannot replace
codes. The Protext replace is mere like
that of WordStar - with wildca^ds^, a
choice of whole or part words, and codes
- although the code mechanism is not
as powerful or easy to understand as
LocoScript's,
I was pleased to find that the EXCH
key automatically puts you into
command mode and types replace For
you. This level of integration with Loco-
Script will help PCW owners get into
using Pretext.
Relay performs a paragraph re¬
format with a similar result to Loco-
Script’s Para vrhich just takes you to the
end of the current paragraph. Amor’s
definition of a paragraph is different
and will take you to the next forced
carriage return. Locomotive will take
you to the next forced carriage return
which follows a soft return.
The screen presentation cannot be
customised as easily as under Loco-
Script; ALT-^S displays spaces, ALT+T
show^s effectors but codes and
templates cannot be removed. Simi¬
larly blanks cannot be displayed. None
of these really matter but they give the
softw^are a different feel.
Protext loves Joyce
Unlike other CP/M word processors
w^hich have been touted for the Joyce —
WordStar^ Superwriter et al - Pretext
has been written with the Joyce in
mind. Even the best installation of
WordStar can’t match Pro text for ease
of use. 11 is only when you move from
C’Pf.yAmsdos Pretext to PUW Pretext
that you realise how many keys the
PCW has.
Theae make moving around the
document very fast. Perhaps Protexl’s
greatest selling point is its speed, es¬
pecially when compared to the infam¬
ously slow LocoSeript. How^cver, the
multitude of keyij make^ things
confusing - a hint card would be very
helpful.
'Jijj'i 1 ij
f-'-J-l'- {■ir ''Sir
1 43 Cft!
-1——!-—I-— 1 —. 1 —R
t!IFj niAiil ? >4ThtA0Vinr 1 1 1 Q«AfDu.tDji«lf^iiiBtft:h»i4»ltMr i*
mpsuawAis Ageinf aU ^in aIivout Aviin aUsits aMIo AhivfAiollMitd^
histrid' t.iigttUlim.taiAb 11.1114junul A|Fnt«|.AMowAtf aNMaCOMUMa
i54iftiiur«qu4st«dAiiaAii^if Juvf .incluaM aH AntAiAfinLuMACuriOTA
AdchwAor IaM t i 1 f ig t at 9
Cikilitti I
The CoiTifnanr/ mode offers loads of features
Amatrad User February 1987
Page 67
REVIEW
I
"^J!.
Spell chechit your prose for mistakes
Software ethos
There are two types of programming:
Structured, which is slow but elegant
and Quick and Dirty which is - welh
quick and dirty. Both pt the job done
but the second makes life more difficult
when you want to add a level of compli¬
cation.
LocoScript is like a structured Pasc-al
program — you have lots of setting up to
do but very little trial and error to get
the result. By contrast, writing a
Pretext document is like changing a
Basic program.
I can see the merits of structure but
would rather have results than beauty
and detest structure for its own sake.
Perhaps that is why 1 prefer Protext-
Like changing a Basic program, you see
the results fast - but you pay a price for
this speed.
Why it is so fast
LocoScript holds a document format¬
ted. If you make a change which causes
the text to become unformatted then
LocoScript will stop to neaten things up
when you cursor off the paragraph.
When you save a document LocoScript
cheeks to make sure that all is neat and
tidy before it will talk to the disc.
Pretext doesn't care about format¬
ting, There is a general format
command which will tidy up the whole
document and ALT+F will tidy up a
paragraph but you don't have to use
them. You can even print unformatted
text, although the command >FP will
format while printing
Protext has less control over the
printer than LocoScript, because it is
designed to work with any printer and
only uses standard control features.
LocoScript is the only word processor I
know that can mix point sizes, from 17
pitch to 5 pitch, within a line and still
keep within the margins. The printer
drivers and >OC commands owe much
to the two BBC Micro packages.
This all means that FVotext does not
know where page breaks fall. You have
to print out the document or use the
>PS command to print to the screenj
then make page break changes. If you
are writing for a hot metal type news¬
paper or an old school publisher this is a
major shortcoming since they require
whole paragraphs to he carried forward
to the next page.
Editing features
Amor has looked at the features which
users have praised and criticised in
WordStar and LocoScript. The major
improvement may be speed but there
are other pluases. Typing mistakes
such as “hte^' instead of 'The” can he
corrected by putting the cursor on the h
and typing ALT+Z.
The overwrite mode allows you to
make minor changes more easily and is
going to win favour with users who
have followed Amstrad'a suggestion to
bin the manual Hermes. A move to
page command is often requested and
Amor has included it but 1 find the
cursor much more satisfactory.
Many people want to print multiple
copieSt a much more realistic request
given the option to use a fast printer. In
an office which has a photocopier it is
better to print once and copy the rest.
Pretext will allow up to 255 copies of
any document, so it's a good job that
you can print and edit at the same time
- providing you have the disc apace.
Something 1 missed when 1 gave up
WordStar in favour of LocoScript was
the box move and 1 was pleased to be
able to use it again with Pretext. The
box mode is simple to use and provides
scope for some creative page layouts.
Block deletes can be undone, a fea¬
ture which can be used to mimic a block
move. There are function keys and
phrases which are not quite as flexible
as LocoScript's.
How often have you wanted to copy
information from a document you
wrote earlier? Protext allows you to do
this by holding two documents in ram
and swapping lietween them. You can
even copy blocks across a la The Word
on the Macintosh, or at least I imagine
it will since on my preproduction
review copy of lYotext the twin docu¬
ment option had not been implemented.
Getting converted
Perhaps the feature 1 miss most with
Ih-otext is the ability to read IxicoScript
files. Amor can do it since ProSpell can
read l>ocoKcript documents - even if
the end result is not always what Loco¬
Script would produce.
With a program aimed squarely at a
sea of LocoScript users this seems to he
a major failing. You can convert files
using the Make Ascii function but that
moans loading LocoScript.
Still, Arnor does ofter the ability to
read WordStar files and to save Ijoth
Protext and standard Ascii files -
essential for writing programs.
Under the Spell
Prospel! has been around for a little
while and given Amor's policy of
continuing development (as it says on
the packet! is probably the most refined
part of the suite.
Essentially w^hat Spell does is take a
document, sort all the words into
alphabetical order and then work
through comparing them with a dic¬
tionary.
When Spell finds a word which you
know and it doesn’t the word is ques¬
tioned. You can either change the spel¬
ling, in which case it is shown in
context before the alteration is made,
store the w^ord m that Spell will never
ask you about it again, ignore it so that
it stays unchanged or ask Spell to come
up with a correct s^jelling.
ProSpell is not as friendly as Loco-
Spell and is a mite slower (according to
' some figures from Locomotive soft¬
ware). but it does all the sorting away
from the document so you can leave it
to do the searching and checking — go
and make a cup of tea then come hack
to go through the mistakes. This may
not be faster but it feels as though it is,
You can use the dictionary to cheat
at crosswords by using wildcards and
asking for words with blanks in the
middle. Dictionary maintenance is
simple enough and the ability to add
multiple custom dictionaries means
that you can keep one disc for checking
your articles on tlshkceping and
another for your film scripts, so saving
time when checking something which
is unlikely to have the name of a fish in
it.
The major point in favour of Loco-
Page 68
Amstrad User February 1987
HiMm
'.sni-i
j • CKfj* - .
— -:. '■■■■■
■.lS8b;
;ppo. ■
SSi..
^gF
■ '■■
REVIEW
Sp(?ll is that it can be used to look up
the spelling of a word while you are
writing. Prospell takes too long to boot
to be worth using for this.
Mixing in
Mail merging is complicated^ requiring
a full understanding of how the soft¬
ware treats data. \Mien you write an
address you just put down what is
necessary. You recognise things like
telephone numbers and dates of birth^
missing them out from the label but
maybe using the information in the
main text of your letter.
A computer cannot be expected to tell
the difference between CM 14 4EF and
13 FEB 1964 so you need to be careful
entering data. Mailmerging is a classic
example of the old computer users
phrase GIGO - Garbage In Garbage
Out.
Careful tuition is what^s needed and
the Pretext manual is better here than
anywhere else at explaining how to use
ProMerge with step by step examples.
You are^ after alh learning to program.
The data file can be read and an
address printed on each letter but this
is only using Merge at its very simplest.
At a more advanced level ProMerge
can be made to act upon the data. The
Protext manual suggests you ask
anyone who does not have a telephone
number listed in your records to call
you. You can read and handle both
strings and numbers offering scope for
some excellent time saving print runs
You can also make a tiny mistake and
end up with a huge pile of waste paper.
Documentation
Pretext was supplied to me with a pre-
production manual but it proved to be a
comprehensive tome. The final thing
will be sold as a ring binder in an Ah 5
box. The design shows that Amstrad
does not have a monopoly on software
which falls out of the box with the back
of the manual facing you.
The manuals have been written by
David Foster who w^as approached by
Arnor in response to his fan mail,
praising the CPC version of Protext.
The result is clear and fairly concise but
with a program so full of features it is
difTicult to absorb everything.
Arnor offers son^e disc based tutorial
programs but 1 found the manual
better, unless you can^t wait to play
with the software - you can decide for
yourself. The manual and part one of
the tutor come with the program. The
additional tutors have to be bought
separately.
Not having seen the binding or index
it is hard to know how easy it will be to
find details in the manual but a
reference card is going to be so useful
that I intend to make up my own.
Conclusion
Protext costs £69.95 while LocoScript is
es^sentially free, so the Arnor product
needs to do a lot to make up the dif¬
ference. Amstrad has, in my opinion,
overpriced LocoSpell and LocoMail, the
two together costing £79.90. That alone
makes up the difference, even without
taking that into account ProSpell sold
for £29.96 and seemed reasonably
priced. If I was offered Prospell, Protext
and Promerge at £23.32 each I"d think
that Td got a bargain. When it comes to
parting with 14 portraits of the Duke of
Wellington it seems a little high.
However, software should really be
valued by the amount you use it and I
intend to use Protext a lot. Sure there
will be times when HI load LocoScript
but for the bulk of my work I think Fve
been converted.
ACU
Ladles and Gentlemen, for your entertainment and pleasure, we are proud to present
The Electric Lantern Show
I
£ 14.951
ALL THIS
FOR ONLY
r OSWRFORM
AJ piites ioeitjdl& VAF onc^ For fticpa oCW £) per DM for AriJitituStr
<Xid £ f wcrid ad^ £ J.SOpor INC AIRMAIL CONIRE
REMSOO^MtNl 50 flJSOCHtttUfi acceptor h Steftnff
Ham*.
Addeu
Afso to com«: I—
ElecMc Lantern Slide Sets - extra discs full of colourful, beouHTully
drown pk;tures for your enjoyment.
PRIDE UnuriES. UnV 14^ WhieMI Hdumt. i Uryor Sl»«r.
Luton, Beds nil W| (0662} *1
seneert ? Weft now your chance is here,
The ELECTRIC LANTERN SHOW.
tt lets you do tbdt. ond mvch, much rinore.
Containing on amoung 23 full colour screen pictures
on only one disc. Al by the famous games screen
designer JHI Lawson. Just look at some of these
features. .
2S colourful pictures on one disc
Contpresses screen *n memory to save space
Caters for all modes, even lets you cha nge rnode in-
a picture
Alowffor most drawing package formats eg
Screen designer. ESf* light Pen.
Change colours while pteture is on screen
Contains Front end picture editor ond dispkiv editor.
2oom In, for a dose up.
Inverse the screen, divide it by four.
Lets you load youf OWN pictures tfom disc and
compress them
Gives a screen dump, or even o poster sized dump
and much, much more...
M last a (bn program for your computer that wl|
provide genuine hormles* enteftalninentlor
Oomputer users of cXI ages everywttere.
coiotrkM tun foe
We are so conflderTtltx^lhkf product wll ploaM that we ae offering
a fuly cor¥ipre|r>efislv« money boch guoraittee (f you ore unsdHsfled.
Ever iDont^ a copy of your favourite games loading
Or flow about a poster sized copy?
1
I
j
Amatt-ad User February 1987
Page 69
Home on the range, the rifle range.
Only crack troops get into the CPCs,
Are you man enough?
The range 19 a test of speed and
accuracy, hit the target and a metallic
*ying” will tell you that, like the moun-
ties, you've got your man.
Miss and the baddies could be coming
for ya.
Use the cursor keys to move your
sights and the spacebar to fire.
for the CPC 464,
664 and 6128, by
Kevin Freeman
GAME
ia
2 ^
3 #
it
7#
it
n
itu
120
nt
130
17fl
m
190
2m
2M
m
26t
?n
" Sniptr V 1.1
hjf K.frtfBan
MODE l:LaC*TE
PH’INT"p Itast
SYNML AFTEO SJAtHEBOrv tSfPF
SrilBQL AfTER 5J:6(3SIJB 970
BdDtEIr 3:HiDDiE OiSQUNp i,3fl0,1«,10
&EFI(fT 4-1
'Sft SErfffl
FfliR !l = 0 Tfl' 36 STEP 4
FOR y=0 TO IS STEP I
ISPSlTF,i,y,Z:ll;E)(T:N£Xr
RFSTORE 1-P0:FOIi t^T ffli £0
READ i,y:JSPIHlE/i!,y,2:|S,PRnE,i,y,1
MEXT
RESTORE 24#:fDB r-1 TD 2?
REAB K,y:ISPIHTE,*,y,hfiEXT
I SPFi:lTE,l6,f1,3E ISPIHTE,li,?1,4
DATA 0.«,0,15,4,3,.4,1S,S,3
MTA ft,1?J^3,1?,T5,U,6
CAT*
MTI
DATA 5?,1?,36,3,36,12
MTA
PATA 4.15,a,#,6,9,1?,8,12,1?
PAT* 16,0,l6,3,l4,.12,20,fl
fATA 7#,3,20,12,?4,0,?4,9
DATA i4,12,?4,15,2a,0,28,9
&ATA 32,#,3?,3,32,9,16,0,36,9
180 &IH Ur^etnC 19]i,tarqety(19>
310 RESTftBE 120:FQR t=l TO 19
3?# REAt if,ritaf9et!£{t)=!i:Ur9?ty1tl=y
330 NEAT
140 DATA 4,a,S,@,12,0,?^,0^2S^#^36,#
150 DAIA 16,3,?#,3,J2,l,fl,9i2Si9
360 &AIA 32,.9,56,9,B,12,12,12\f1fi,12
37# DATA 20,12,4,15,24,15
380 EHV 1,10,-1,1
190 t display cduhLs
400 5p=0tbn=15:5h-50
41# PEN IjLOCAtE 15,23;PRINT'^sc";
420 IDEATE 15,25EPRlNT"hi
430 LOCATE 5,23;PRIHI'^sli";
440 LOCATE 5,25:PRIHT"b(ii“;
45# 005UB S7#;00EUB 6S0
460 SDSUB S90EEOSU8 900
470 a=5#0:b^50#
4|0 '‘Miri^blA'S
49# 1^20:7=10
500 rS=BNDCt)*l9t0.5
510 IF r-n THEN 500
32# n=r:l)#SUB 94#
530 BOailB 670
540 'bpnus vAlu-e
55# bri=hri-l:IF hpi=0 THEN hn = 1
560 'keyprflAS
570 IF IHK£T(4ri=0 AND THEN EfliSUS 7
6 #
58# IF IN11ETIS5=0 AND k> 0 THEN i=A-l
590 IF lNICETt?>-0 AND y<l9 THEN y-y + 1
6#0 IF IRKEV(0J^0 m y>0 THEN y>y-1
61# IF |HKET<1)=fl AND A<17 THEN !i = i*1
620 IF K = s AND- b = 7 THEN 65#
630 ISPD]TE,i!r7^i:lSPRnE,a,h,6
640 a-iEb=y
65# q^q*1
660 IF q = 6# THEN 6#SU0 940:q-0:GOT# 5i0#
670 IF sliP0 THEH 57#
688- IF sOhi THEW hi =bi; lifiOSUB 90#
690 GOSUB 710:eOTO 400
990
printing rgutinei
FEN 7:40CAT£ 3,25:PtHNF [ls:^|le
n;^B£TUfiN
a PEN 6:L9CATE 3,23:PA|Nr USING "JA'-.s
^I.'fiETUfiH
> PtN 2:L0C*TE U,?3rPRlNT miHi -ffjfl-
;sc;rRfTdflM
' JrLOCATE T7,?5 :PAInt usiJfS "A##'
,-Ni; jRfTURN
I l3PRnE,)(,y,6
JSPfiirE,12,15,2;lSP!inf 15 5
RETl^«N
1 SPRUE,l4rget.<Cr],.t5ra*ti|r(r) a
PETORN
' sprite dSEa S9#00-8955f
PESTORE 107fl;iifli^ig0j0uflQj^p£^ j ^
f#fi d[.f 76 iTSrflEAl) di,ck:rs=#'
FDR by-1 to 2 \ ^Jip ^
7m * pl4}f
710 tOSUB 920:6#SUB 940
??• IF ll«(£r<*3)=s THIN (0SU» 4
dB
' 710 IF I*fKErC46).0 TWEN CLSiEND
74# GOTO 720
750 BE TURN
76# S#UND 1,2000,15,#,1,#,s
770 FDR t^l 79 30#jNfifT
7S0 CALL SBB80
79i sh=56-i jsosu# ae#
■B-00 pi = f)(*l6Jt24
*10 6y=5S2’<y*16)--
IF TFST(pi!,py)<M? THEN RETURN
830 SOUJfli 2,10#,15,#,1
S48 SE=Jtthn:6DSUB 89#
#50 q = 59:bn=15;NE7lfRN
1810
1020
101 #
1#40
105#
1060
107#
1080
1090
1140
1110
1120
1130
tU4
1150
1160
117#
1180
1190
a=vAU-'a"tnl1iKdS,hy,2))3rA=r5+atPO
AE
next hytlf THIN 1040
NEXT 41:CALL 6900#
FOR ti# T# 15:READ tUNK i,k:NE,XT:fi
ETURN
SOUND 4,600,6,15:8ORD£D; 6eN0&E 1;PA
PER 0;PEH 1:INIC 1,0
PR|IIT"dBta error In llftf.+'^^dL*10^^1
060
END
data 010E90210A90CDDlBCt9FCA6,1567
DATA 01901 190C3lA905350524954,10Sa
DATA c50#Db46021iD4C04DD7E04FE,1394
data 10D0#76F26#011709019715F,B99
data 2l?EfEfFCe577|rEl9D0D504,1781
data 1 1 500021 B#Bf1-91#FDDl79FE, 1375
data 2,fl.D0#7D55f 16001 9D 11A4713,935
data lA4Fi;C5E5lAAE7723ni0F9,1ia8
DATA E 101 0008#930040150C009C1,774
DATA 0D2#ESC990905291U92D692,1519
data 96915A94lC95ffFFIFFFFrFF,2?44
DATA FfFFFFFFFFIFFFfFfFFFFFfF,3060
DATA 0aU004000642000a0#0B000i194
Amstrad User Februajry 1987
Page 70
ijea DATA j^a
1Z10 OITA aa9gaaaa^»3a9s?aa0aaa#aa,^8a
12 ?# UATA 3i9a6AZ0aaa#0#a0j03Bi0?#^j#s
1230 data a000#ae0$4FCF[a00a0aaa#0^5as
1?A0 OATA ai?623fla0000000a0l5603fl0^i4;
12^0 DATA 00a00000a00!A4000000r»00«j7l
12i0 DATA 005*AS00005S0000003030#0,43S
1?70 OATA fl0FF00441#fit986i55Ff0#10,l0r9
128# DATA 30303&30S5AA0#?SF3F36£9a,H1i
12?0 DATA fF0«#0l0E7CFB2?5AA«000CC,137|
1300 OATA E7^70^FFAA000i10E747B^FF,17^0
131# data 0200fla9#E767F7AB#20ia09|^1060
1320 DATA F7CFF7A00?00#03 #f 3F3.FFJ0,16P5
1 330 OATA 00#00ii6A|.9'57fEF00#00003#,SJ#
134# DATA 2157BA3#00000#00?l5730j0^7i4
1350 DATA 000#0S10A|FCAaFCAfliFCA0FCJ712
1360 OATA 54#0Si005A0#54#0A#FtAafC,1V6
137# DATA AAFCAaFCl4#05A00540#5;#0^1f76
I3fl0 DATA AafCA6FCAftFCA0fCSA#03400,1S4#
1390 OATA 54#05A00AlfCASFCA0.FCAafC,16i8
1400 DATA 54#054005A0#54#0A#FtAaK,1176
U1I DATA AftfCASFCTBF0F0f0F0F0F0F0,27fi#
1420 data F0F0F#F0F0T#F0F0f#F0F0f#,2B80
14J0 data F0f#F0F03ClD>C3C3{;5t3ClC,U4Z
14A0 OATA 3C&5it5C3C053i:3CF0B53CI0,H43
1450 DATA f0053CF05F!FiF3F3T3F3l3f.1J25
1460 DATA 3C3C3C3i3C3t3C3t5C3C783E,7B6
H70 DATA Jc3C7aif7&F0F03EF0F0T«3E.l74A
Ua# DATA 3T3f3F3F3F3F5F3f3C3E3CJt,7^6
I 1490 DATA iC3E3c3C7&3£3CJE7B3Elt3Cj846 ,
1S0& DATA F03EI0F#f03E7aF0jF3F3fJf,14?D I
1510 data iFSF3f3F0#1&3CJE3E3C3C3C,646
152# DATA 3E3£3C7a3l3CiC78SCltF0F0,110b
r lS30 DATA i£7aF0F0jE7B3fJF3F3F3F3T,12Z2
154# DATA 3F3FiC3E3t5ac3EJC3t7e3E,792
1550 DATA iCJC78ii;t3CFa5E7eF0f#3Ej3ei
1560 f#F03F3F3F5F}F3rJF3F3CJt,110i
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1590 DATA iFJF3IJF3F3F3e3D3C3C3C3D^740
1,6#0 DATA 5c3tJC053C3£3CB5i£3CF0B5,126i
1610 OATA 7SF0F0&53tF03f3F3F3f3F3F,l4S9
1620 DATA Jf3FJt3t3C3t3t3t3t3E3c5C.730
U30 OATA 7aiE3C3C7#3E78F0f#3£7eF0,15#6
1640 DATA f#3E3F3F3T3F5F3l3F3F3£it.928
' U50 DATA 3t3C5C3£3CJC7&3EJi;3C7S3£.e46
1660 DATA 3C3Cf05E7BF0F03E7SF03F3F,157#
. 1670 DATA 3F3F3F3f3F!F0&ia0#00#00#.410
^m data 000##o0000m000aa«00B^“-*
1690 DATA 00#40C0Be00000#0^01C^t*®^^**
1700 DATA FF0#0000043CC06&FT«00000.B70
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1720 DATA D50#000094t0#094O5#00«00.^n
175# DATA 942E0»C0D5000000403C#855,ai4
1740 DATA FF0#00#04#942C0#00#00®^0^S75
175# DATA 5JC05C0B00000**0#®EA942E^535
1760 OATA #000005?0*1iJC«lJ''W5fl“''®*''''f
177# DATA 0#00EA945DC0£A40#00#S594 v1^9B
'ch^^^l4:iA^BAla0945DO540EA J546
1790 DATA 1C08#0lC5DDS40EA94B#00U/97?
1#00 DATA 5tD540EA942Ca45CD5P54#£A,T7l2
1fl10 DATA 402ClC66D5D540EA4#3tlC£#^l340
1B20 DATA FFD54#lA0#C0C0O5AA55##AA,178a
laSI DATA #0fFfFfF000#000#0Slft000#^75^
1640 DATA 00#0l5e03fJF0fl#000#01515^149
1#S0 OATA BFFf##000#00l57fl5ZA##00,657
186# DATA #00#15BFTSAA000#000#1555^S0^
1870 DATA 3F#000#000#055#4f^400440^44^
1180 DATA 0#00153F3Fa0#000#000#0FF,40?
189# DA77. FFAA000#000#000#0 bbi#0004i^ 425
19#0 DATA 00#a00#000000#0000#ap0«(|^0
-191#
DATA
#0 0 #a a 0#0 0 0#0 0 0#0 0 0«0 0 0 #, 0
1920
DATA
0 0#0 0 0 #a a 0#0 0 4#4 0 a #4 0 s« 4,3 ?
1930
OATA
4#a004O5065DEAAED5AAEAAA^1|705
194#
DATA
DS0B40AFAA00EAAAD56#40AE,1612
1950
DATA
AA0#AEAAC5C#C5EJAA0#A|AA jeaa
1960
DATA
O5DSAA40AAfl0FAAAD5DS0040^1724
1970
DATA
AA00EA80D5D5«040AA00EAEA,166#
198#
DATA
D54#C0EAAA4#£AFFFF0#FFAA,21#6
1990
DATA
AA##EAAA 000 # 00 ##AA#& 0 ai 4 , 77 i i
2000
DATA
BB3377BBfFFF(fFFAFFF0B«aj.?S66
?#10
OATA
FFFFFFFfAFFfAFAFFFFfFFFf,2820
202 #
DATA
AF0F5FAFAF3JeB0BAFfFFFAF,192#
2030
DATA
Ff0BAFBBAFffFFAFAf0FAFAF,22#4
2040
DATA
EFFFffEFEIEFEFCFEfFFfFEF^2900
2 #S 0
DATA
EFtFFFEFFFFIFFFFFFFfFFFF,2964
206 #
DATA
FFFIFrFFFFFFFFIFFFfFFFFi;3044
207#
DATA
EFCFCFCFrFFFFfFFFfFFFFFF,29#0
2010
DATA
FFFFffFFrFFFfFFFTF57ABFF^2408
2#90
DATA
A#FfABFFFF57AaFfAB57A6Ff,2304
2100
DATA
FFFDFEFFFEfDABFFFFFDFEfF,2967 ,
211 #
DATA
FEFEFEFFFFFCFCFEFEF.EFEFF,3047
2120
DATA
fFFFfEFFFEF£FEFFFFFFFEFF,3#55
2130
OATA
FEFFFCFFFFFf3CFFBifF7CFf,2665
214#
DATA
FFFF70FFBEFFBEFFFF5CF0FF,247S ,
2150
DATA
BEFFBEFFFFFFffFFFFFFffFF,2930
2160
DATA
0 5 # 0 0#0 0 i «#0 ###0 0#0 0 ##0 0,1 4
2170
OATA
##0 0##0 0#»0 0 #a a 0 ## 0 0 ## 0 0 ,#
216#
DATA
303220001 02 A 0 A 3 A# 01 # 000 #^ 27 ^
219#
DATA
10##10##0Bl#00tT20«fl31#0^U6
2200
DATA
1##000l00#100«0ai#001|#2Aj22
2210
OATA
2#3A##003#322#00#000#000^220
222 #
DATA
5v24,19,2T>12,3,6JS
223#
DATA
16 , 1 , 11 , 2 ^ 2 #, 26 ,13,0
ACU
Page 71
Amstrad User February 1987
Classic
arcade action with
this all time coin-op favourite.
Mario is atnied urith
Outwit the giant gorilla and save the girl in this historic rescue
3 nl|! his wits and his trustv hammer as he climbs the girders in down town New York.
.Itiple screens and fast moving action:* dodge boards^ fireballs and much much more,
lal screen remove the rivets in the structure to finall|^ bring the beast crashing down.
Screen shots taken from various computer formats.
SPECTRUM COMMODORE
AMSTRAD
SPECTRUM
Ocean Software Limited 6 Central Street Manchester M2 5NS.
Telephones 061 832 6633 Telex: 669977
I mi! M jrilc.'ridC)
1 \1 intlicjneM I rflfJentnrt: Nimeiido, licensciJ Isy OMnn Softi^iar? LiniitiM!, Miui,lu?risi;^cl ui*f. All WiRhls HtserviH].
Ac
th
te.
'otk.
lore.
>wn.
Vyk Olliver shows how to produce the
kind of results which help to make an
Amstrad PC that bit special
By now the people who haven’t heard
about the Airo’s hi-res graphics are as
scarce as bacon butties at a Bar
Mitzvah. Unfortunately the number of
people who really understand how to
hack at it are juat aa scarce. The only
way moat people have of putting up
really pretty moving graphics is via
Basic2j which is very nice - and equally
big, slow and so on.
This article is going to tell program¬
mers how to handle the Airo screen. It
assumes some basic IBM programming
knowledge^ that you aren’t afraid of
linkers and that you know an
assembler from a poke in the eye with a
sharp stick. It also assumes you have
an assembler and know how to use it.
So if the answer to any of the above is
or what?" you might as well
stop here^ unless you happen to like
reading bad English or tinkering with
Debug.
Four screens into one
First of all it^s a good idea to know how
the Airo graphics work, so well start
with a small lecture;
Four basic modes are supported by
the Airo (the codename for the
Amstrad PC), and a few aren’t but can
be made to work. To keep things
simple, well just talk about the stand¬
ard four - 40 and 80 column te?ct and
820X200 and 640X200 graphics. The
really interesting one is the 640X200,
so we can stop talking about all the
others already.
Sorting out planes
On a boring old Itty Bitty Machine with
Amstrad User February 1^^87
colour graphics fitted this mode only
has two colours - black and (usually)
white. Airos look just the same unless
you know better, when they suddenly
sprout 16 colours.
This is the nowing better” bit:
^Tien you write to the Airo screen in
that mode, you actually write to four
screens (or planes) at once - blue,
green, red and a brightness plane. Only
the first three are normally displayedi,
but to you and me that looks white. To
get sneaky, you can write to the planes
simultaneously or individually.
The only had news is that you have to
read them back individually. Thi.^s is not
much of a drawback to games writers
as they can store away a map of what is
supposed to be there and look at that
instead of the screen.
The last bugbear is that you must
remember to turn on the brightness -
intensity - plane. This is exactly like on
an IBM, and all you do is as follows
(yep, dreaded 8086 assembler):
MOV AX,6
INT 16
MOV DX^DdH
MOV AL,15
OUT DXAL
That little swatch of code puts you
into graphics mode (the INT) and sets
all the colour planes on (the OUT).
Summary of IQ ports
3DOH Active plane coIoiltb.
3DD11 Write planes-
3DEH Read plane,
3DFH Border colour (in graphics).
Printing anything on the screen now
will put it up in bright white on black.
Putting different numbers in AL will
cause different planes to be active,
useful for special effects such as flash¬
ing (repeatedly enable and disable the
intensity plane).
Now then, there is a port which con¬
trols the colour planes written to at
3DDH, the four least significant bits of
which represent the planes you are
going to write to (see pretty diagram).
If you're trying this out in DEBUG
(remember, DEBUG speaks only hex:
03DD,nn will OUT nti to port 3DDH),
you will notice that the text changes
colour as you type it in, but may well
disappear when the screen scrolls. This
is because of the colour plane read
register.
This 13 changed by another OUT, this
time at 3DEH. The two least significant
bits give the plane number that will be
read from the screen ram. As screens-
are scrolled by a block copy it will only
copy one colour plane. If you want to
scroll a full colour hi res screen look at
the end of the article.
OK, novT weVe turned on the planes
Page 73
FEATURE
■==S0'
CC05J o:c.-
■-O 0 .. - , : m-'-. -:‘Mr'.'
g-"-.; !!--:fi.-‘-' •^- ■::- :.-w:
8P&3'.
?o5o:'
.«ooi»P-!-:-L
-: LP'
let’s put up some coloured boxes on the
screen. Here is a (hopefully) self-
explanatory program which does just
that;
Hud t:
haxti yp ■■ 4
*UtH H
jtrl III! 1*4 Ip icrttn itiar,.
M'l aS^Af.
HI
11 SttA rvTh I|IP4 doun.
RDI El.td
;1j haiti (ilut «nt 1i ILickh.
RDM
HBV RL,fL
lit AL
wr
;ChinBE' vritl plinia.
t.4Ll IdK
LM HrA
LDdF lUF*
ilPAji Frf nfzl bii
FBF l-S ;Pu1 fvif ii-iMKt bftk
RET rRfturn
iFdi itinci ypv ciw.
FMlN ti
RUIH 11
RQV AX^RFFFFN
jlt'Fr FILLinB Rpndi vlTh Ihii.
[ILL B.1
jl4 1R IMP Linti
Alt B]tj.2lllH
CALL i-l
PDF (I
PQP II
Rtl
;in4 II Qtt El***.
1
PVtB II ;
Nl fl.H
Sj-it BX Ipr Afit 111 if LIni*,
RM [BUjiAX
fiEE In *nF 'rtrd.
RM [R,'|3(2]j.AA
All ti,ld
FIHi< to niPt EEa*
LDBF 1L1
PBP BK
REt
^IFft tlKT,
Simple exercise for the student: Now
blank the bottom row properly.
As a grand finale you can put the
whole lot together and get scrolling
coloured squares all over the screen.
This leaves everyone totally confused^
but with no excuse not to produce Airo
screen drivers.
Colourful black
and white
With an Airo monochrome screen the
16 colours are displayed as shades of
grey. The bits in the colour planes are
added together with blue as least
significant, and the intensity plane as
most significant. This means that a
mono Airo will show bright black as
being brighter than dark white.
Con fueling innit?
Do’s and Don’ts
There are four things that are import-
ant to bear in mind when hitting Airo
screens directly:
• Never do anything in one screen
mode and expect it to he there when
you change into another, especially if
you poke at the hardware direct. Any
screen blanking must be done in the
mode you intend to end up in.
• Alw^ays turn the cursor on and off
with the rom interrupt routines,
# It is impossible to cause snow on an
Airo screen. Attempts to spot end of
line scans on an Airo may never finish,
as the end of line bit is always toggled
when read (techies will understand
this).
# Airo screens are fixed at 40 or SO
columns wide. Attempts to set that to
other widths will fail.
Happy and technicolour hacking!
There, that tells you even more about
the Airo screen, like the fact that the
screen segment starts at BBOOOH^ It
also tells you that all the rows are SO
bytes long and that even rows come
first in the memory map, followed by all
the odd rows 2000H later.
Those of you who haven’t looked at
the pretty diagrams, please do so now.
Now, as scrolling the screen in the
traditional manner would cause loss of
colour (you can only read one colour at
a time, remember?), here is another
simple program to scroll the screen one
colour plane at a time:
AIRO CotourScfaen Layout
BLUE(O)
L
~j GREEN (11
RED (2)
INTENSrrfO)
ACt.ltROLL;
FII-Rfi ■[rten i.ir*LlFr.
[-lOOF;
lUlR M ;S*¥C y»r 4*11 ijfitnt.
{|l iTurn *p %tri»4 tipFiM.- .
HV AL,iRljH |*rii.yFlE* pllht Rl.* trw4 iLin*.
MIN AR
HV IX, 111* fIF** I Lint
Hi IX^II.
lit ti ;Hdh yriti pli*i*
Kit *I,AH
OUT ll.AL
CAIlL 1 [4FT jChF B"* FEi** “p.
PflF AX
HE AL ;Hiti I* PFiE i«idJyrit* pLinii
IM *EJ
J|[ R.eOOF fl*4pi r«jBd A !■««*.
FPP IE fFe^I I*fI *Ed dll* IIO h*l«r<
;.F*iyralrn3,
IfT
LCWt;
Hi AXrlimil ito- PP1*6 It 11 Ilf*** lutriF
HI l$,AE
tILL N.eDPI A*EF ih* i:r«in.
HPI JlplllHl
ROE FdrAit
jEtp-F til pilir hiEl *f thf |.(.F*4ii,
‘ rnAmi
MV ex..H>I|IF 7 Fikiibtr *f ypFdl i*Lt i iirtt*
M4 I|,II Fltl'l lE F>*|i -ird,
Hi AS^rtiE jtDpxi»B up IF** 1 linn duyFi.
HOi IE,AX Fl^****^Fr, thtrr |F* Add ini
jiitp
jllMi inltriHFitril.
REP HVi
RE1
♦
Evofi Unei
811 Rytet
280
lln»i
BB80;8000 -----
B800;0050 IIIIIIII.-
BOOOiOOAO I--I-—-
0tC.
Odd llnoi
68802000
6800:2850
6800:20A0
10 PORTS;
Plane WrtteAWtpta^/Bof dar Colour*:
Plana Road;
How the Airo screen works
Byte Output
MSB
^ - Ptene number (0^3}
LS8
ACU
Page 74
Amstrad User February IRflT
I^VIEW I
THE LEGEND OF KAGE
A LONG time ago^ so the legends have it^a young Ninja
warrior (what is a Ninja warrior, anyway?) called Kage
was walking in the forest with the young and very
beautiful Princess Kiri, It was an idyllic scene.
However Kage was strangely troubled, "*What is it,
brave warrior?^’ asked Kiri^ who was disturbed by
Kage'a preoccupation,
*'WelL if this was a video game, and somebody had
just loaded it, then some evil would befall you^ because
that is the only role of females (especially princesses) in
such things. And then I would he chosen as the bravest
warrior, the one with the most monosyllabic name, to
rescue from the clutches of whatever evil prince, king or
wizard that had abducted you”,
"Don’t be silly”, said Kiri. "Video games won^t be
invented for four thousand years. And anyway, the only
evil ruler around here is the Dragon King, And even he
wouldn^t do a thing like that. Look, here he comes now.
We^U ask him^.
But the evil Dragon King had just been talking to
Ocean, and had signed a big fat contract concerning
young warriors and beautiful princesses. For it was well
known that four thousand years was not too long a time
in which to bring out a video game, especially when
there were full page adverts in What Kidnap and Mal¬
evolence Week already.
With a flourish of imperial silk, the king’s guards
bundled the Princess into the King’s Ford Cortina, and
whisked her away to his castle.
Stifling thoughts about bundled softwear, the noble
warrior Kage returned to the village, in the full know¬
ledge of what was to happen. And indeed it came to pass
that, with pretentious phrases, Kage was chosen to
undertake the formidable task of rescuing the Princess
and negotiating the royalties. He was banded the
storyboard,
"In scene one”, he read,"after the kidnap, Kage must
defeat 29 Ninja warriors during which time the Dragon
King himself makes an entrance”.
Only 20? he thought. So tucking the storyboard
carefully under one arm, he clambered up the nearest
tree, and unperturbed by thoughts of court cases over
Tarzan, swung into action. With blades flying, he man¬
aged to defeat the allocated warriors, and a king or two*
He landed with a bump on the forest floor, and re¬
trieved the sweatatained story from his armpit.
"In scene two you must kill 10 Ninja warriors before
climbing the castle wall” — ah, simple — “while avoiding
the Ninjas in the riveri\ Up he went, avoiding and
attacking with equal panache. By this time, the
storyboard was running a bit, but he was able to make
out "Scene 3. Climb the wall”. Ooops, done that already.
Never mind.
“Scene 4, Inside at last! But where is the Princess?
lt*s a large palace, and she’s hidden on the top floor”.
Takes all the fun out of it, thought K. ""Make your way
past the guards. The Dragon King will appear and
make a final attempt to thwart you, Stand well back
from him - he’s no pussycat”.
No, thought Kage, He’s a bleeding dragon. Who
wrote this copy?. And muttering under his breath he
went into the final attack.
Author: Ocean
Price; £8 95 tape, £12^95 disc
Humm, another arcade spinoff. And not a
bad way to spend a few minutes of mindless
joystike heaving, with options to frolic about
^in the foliage or just to keep things on the ground.
There are a few twists on each screen to keep the
interest alive, and some strange ways to move about
i\\VKage suffers from one of the worst afflictions
which can contaminate a sprite,
twoframeitius. This is complicated by an
^advanced state of flickerallovertheacreenus.
In your quest to rescue your other half (is that
another two frames) you bounce around the screen
which I couldn’t quite figure out in a couple of hours
playing.
Graphics are nothing special, the music’s volume
can be adjusted independently of the sound effects,
and not much else to note. OK (or even quite good, for
Ocean).
something rotten hurling fireballs and generally not
being very nice.
The game is saved from being a complete waste of
time by the music* If the same programmer wrote the
music and sprite routines he should give up sprites
and do the music for other people.
Bruce Lee style kick to get rid of various
finja warriors, duck to avoid the Dragon
King *, , sounds familiar to you too, does it?
This is yet another zapperoo game. Still, it’s quite
playable, and you soon start to identify with our brave
hero Kage, struggling to. free his beautiful (we
assume) Kiri from a fate worse than death.
It’s not a game that would stand out in a crowd, but
I have seen a lot worse, and after a bit of practice, you
find you’re hooked.
Am^trad User February 19S7
Page 75
The truth about
How much tio^s St cost
to go on Telex?
You could go the conventionai way and buy a
dedicated Telex machine. The cheapest wifi cost
you 11,604 (the Whisper], the dearest £Z,892 [the
Cheetah). You wifi afso need a separate tele¬
phone line, costing £T01 to install pfus £404 a
year rentaf. That's a total outlay over the first year
of a rTfinimum of £2,109, (All prices include VAT.)
Or you could do whst more and more Amsrr^td
users are doing - use your CPC. PCW or PC to
double 3s a Teiex mstchine. And Just use your
ordinary lelephonel
How elo / turn my
Amstreti computer
into e Telex machine ?
Aif you need is a modem and appropriate
communications software (see the advertise¬
ments in' this issue], a telephone, and a sub¬
scription to MicfoUnk,
Tefex is just one of a growing number of services
available to Amstrad users on MiaoUr)k, With it
you can also read the news as it happens, go
teleshopping, create your own closed user group,
send tele messages and efectronic marJ right
round the world, download free teiesoftware
programs directly into your micro ... and much
more.
But why use Telex?
Because iCs a standard means of instant
communication between businesses. Today
there are 150,000 Telex machines in use in Brrtaln
- and more than 2 million worldwide. They need
it to dramaticaify speed up business communi¬
cations -just as quick as usir>g the phone but far
more effrcient, because you have a hard copy of
every "conversation" for your records,
But there's a big bonus you get when you use
MfcroUnk for Telex that the conventional way
doesn't offer.
With MicroUnk you don't HAVE to be in your
office to send or receive Telex messages, You can
just as easily use your computer at home (or even
a poitablel. So nowjtou can check whether there
are any Telex messages waiting for you -
anywhere, anytime.
How's that for your business efficiency?
MicroLmk application form; Page 4T
This means
YOU!
a i^rogr^m lifting. A lor an
amazing gction game, aboul 3k Or 4k long.
Mostly Fl is wri-lEen in Qasiic but it mighit
have 0 few machine cods roulinnss to dq
soms of the Things th 0 t neefi speed. It
works on the 464 (with or wiihciul disi;:;
drive), 684 aod 6126, ll might run (using
Mallard Basic) pn the PCWB25@ Did I hear
you say vou have one right here jn yout
pocket? 1 did? Hand it ovor. We warn lo
print it!
Ves. that's nghl, we- want lots of shortish
programs for our readers lo type in They
don't hava lo be gam as - wb just have a
pfatBrance for them. They can -be anything
that we find intefesting. The things wa
don't Fir^d inriarasiiog are blorythm
praqrgms, pools predictors, simple
databasas, or anything lo do with quadratic
aquations - unless they 9 re written jn pne
line, [:allptaped to half a million quid or
draw a pretty picture on the screen.
There are a few golden rules for submiitting
prograrns. Remamber that you are writing a
program for publication. Make yOL>r
program easy to debug. Don't include
unlistable characters ii^ the t^rogram.
Document start addresses and length of
code whan using rrnachine code. Send the
program on tape or cassette and inciude a
SAE If you want ii back |l you think, the
program does something particularly clever,
write an aKplanatipn of the rgulina that
does it- Don't include commands that work
only on one particular machine.
Now you knriw what to d<s, get cracking!
Send off your program tod0V to:
Lil Tin^
Amsirafi Computer User
Sfentwood CMJ4 4£r
OUH
OUR
CuR
PACE
PRICE
PRtE
ri*WriET-D?
79S
cnya.iQ<EBi0i
5te
SWHC DFSAMJFUrDC
Tie
QflUC -Dt
SK
OALVAIH
NPoeaBLE MssirjNOc
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Page 76
Amstrad User February 1&87
...£88s:
•Dccco yy. ■:' (o5c&?:': ■:
REVIEW I
:,j:
1
r
f
\
ASTERIX AND THE MAGIC
CAULDRON
It was early morning in the Gaulish village. For years
now’, it had been the last outpost of independence
against the Roman invaders. The secret of this unlikely
state of affairs lay with Getafix^ the village druids He
had concocted a magic potion w’hich endowed the
drinker with supergaulish strength, and just about ren¬
dered him invincible. And it was time for the daily dose.
Opening time at the Ancient Druid . ..
Asterix was first in line. Small, genial and no mean
fighter, Asterix was the village hero. He slurped his
pint of Potion. Obelix was next. Unfortunately (for
Obelix) he waa not getting any - he had fallen into the
magic cauldron when a mere tot and was permanently
strong. Getafix always refused him more.
This time was to be no exception and when the
bardruid shook his head, Obelix got very angry* He
kicked the cauldron. The cauldron promptly broke into
eight pieces and flew up into the air^ one piece falling
nearby but the rest scattering to the four wnnds. Getafix
was shocked.
“If I don’t have the cauldron, I can't make the potion
and we’ll be overrun by the Romans in no time flat”, he
moaned.
“A.sterix and you must go and retrieve all the bits.
Here", and he picked up the remaining piece of pot and
poured its contents into a flask. “Asterix, you’ll need the
last bit of potion to help you”,
‘That’s another fine mess , . Asterix remarked as
they trudged out of the village, past the hut of Dojie-
grafix, the programmer.
Their first port of call was Totorum, a Roman
encampment. And there, in the camp gateway, lay a
piece of cauldron glowing with mystic power.
But before Asterix could grab it, Plaius the Roman
Guard attacked. "Good thing I’ve been playing Way of
A long time fan of Asterix, I’m saddened by
this uninspired game. A classic mistake —
spend too much time and memory on the
graphics and the game goes to pot.
'The fighting takes place in an expanded window
and is easily the worst animation of its type I’ve seen.
I used to love Asterix. Who am I kidding? -1
still do. The way he and Obelix blunder
through their cartoon existence would lend
"the characters superbly to a Wally type game.
The first mistake was to use Mode 0. A good artist
can produce wonderful combinations of colours using
mode 1 with stipples. Mode 0 only looks good when
colours which are close to one another are used to give
an anti-alised effect (shaded), as in games like The
Wheel At long last Asterix is here. Although
I would advise serious Asterix followers not
to raise their hopes too high, this is an
'^amusing game, with a couple of interesting features.
I like the way you enter fight mode and the close-up
of the action (Go on Agterix, Kick him in the g.s).
the Exploding Ferret!”, thought Asterix as he fought
the guard. “My trainer Joistix said it would help. Which
is more than Obelix does”.
The guard defeated, Asterix went on his way. Six
more pieces of cauldron were needed and his food was
running low* At last he wandered into Rome, He had
heard that a Jewish antiques collector, Mel Borne,
might have come across a hit of his cauldron^ but the
shop’s door was closed.
As Asterix was musing about how to get in, he espyed
a key lying in the gutter* “By Toutatis!”, he thought
“Now I can get into Mel Borne’s house!” But although
the outside looked flash and attractive, the contents
were drab and unexciting.
But there was no time to be morose. Rumour had it
that a new assault was due on our indomitable friends’
village. They had to get the rest of the pot. And fast. . .
Author; Melbourne House
Price; £S.9S
The scenes are well but excruciatingly slowly drawn
and the game itself lacks any sort of depth at all.
Entirely missing is the humour which makes
Goscinny and Uder^o’s strip so much fun. Not worth
the wait
Scared Armour of Antirad.
The second mistake was to use such huge sprites.
The nimble Asterix becomes oafish and the fights
confusing. The slow screen refresh destroys the
credibilty of the situation and would indicate either a
huge game (which it isn’t) or a poorly programmed
one (which it is).
A game with as many promises as a party manifesto
and with about as many of them kept.
The game is fairly straightforward. Pick up the
pieces of the cauldron, various objects and keep Obelix
fed and therefore happy.
I enjoyed the company and moral support of our fat
friend, but where oh where was dogmatrix?
Amstrad User February 1987
Page 77
REVIEW
1
' ' fe: - ■ ' " - ■■-■
FIRELORD
Evil Queens spreading gloom and despair throughout
unhappy lands seem to be in vogue at the moment (just
ask a northener about Edwina), and the latest sad state
to get the maurauding monarch treatment is Torot,
Land of PalindromeSr The rampaging ruler has the
Firestone in her employ (it"s not been a good year)^ and
will only relinquish it if some brave knight goes and
gets her the four charms to eternal youth*
The Firestone is the source of magic in the land, and
by rights belongs to the dragon. The Evil Queen’s been
using it to send fireballs hither and thither, and has
populated the land with various fiends with a strange
sense of humour.
The inhabitants used to run and gambol in the high¬
ways^ eating faggots and chips,, but now the spectres in
the streets make them stay indoors, supping at lentil
soup and morosely dipping into their designer fondue
sets.
Into this slough of despond rides our hero. Sir Gala-
heart, also known as you. He’s been given a holy hint
that by using the Enchanted Crystals, the land can be
made free and happy once more. He also has it in mind
to release Princess Eleanor, held captive by the
cackling queen, and live happily ever after. In this he
hopes to get the help of the inhabitants of Torot.
The denizens are a mixed lot. There are a lot of
peasants, who know the area well but aren’t all Mas¬
termind materiaL To move about. Sir G has to either
pay tolls to gatekeepers or obtain Timescape spells from
herbalists or similar magicmakers.
He can’t carry everything about all the time though,
so the medieval equivalent of Barclay’s, the tithe ward
keepers, will look after any surplus effects.
Various spells are available from witches and
wizards, as are dragon’s dentures. More ordinary arma¬
ments are available from the knights, and pukka gen is
to be had from the wise old man and the forest-bound
hermit. But the latter is well hidden, and there are a lot
of angry teddybeara down in these particular woods.
But how to trade? Well, various bits and pieces grace
the ground outside the inhabitants' hovels. Sir G can
pick these up, and then enter a house arid trade with
the owner for his services or spells. If he’s feeling par¬
ticularly poor, he can try and nick something. But if
caught (and bishops tend to catch)^ nasty punishments
lie in store.
There’s a large, maze-like area to explore, and plenty
of evil spooks and nasties wandering about in an
attempt to stop you. Once inside a house, trading takes
place by means of various icons, both for materials used
in the bartering and for the actions. You also get a look
at the physog of whoever or whatever you're dealing
with.
Everything is controlled by joystick joggling.
Enemies and friends are easy to distinguish — baddies
are outside on the streets, and goodies are safe indoors.
So you can’t kill anyone you shouldn’t. But can you save
the land?
AulAor: Hewson
Price: £S.95
This is definitely my sort of game. You run
around, picking up things, avoiding baddies
when you can and zapping them when you
"can’t and when you trade your posse.ssions, you have a
cheat option!
The game’s storyline is reminiscent of the Chroni¬
cles of Sir Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever, with
ghosts and witches, knights, hermits and an unshake-
able belief in the triumph of good over the dark forces.
This game is well on the way to becoming one of my
favourites. Although not unique, Firelord has a
certain something that makes it one of the best of its
genre.
w
Hewson seem to devote all their best efforts
towards the Commodore 64, so it’s good to see
a respectable game from them. The game is
big - with around 500 screens — and Sabre Wulf like.
The trading adds to the fun, and was the best pari
for me. It feels a little like the multi-user text adven¬
ture MUD, but you get to shoot things. The sprites are
a bit plain but that does not detract from the
playabilityn
This latest offering from Hewson comes from
the fingers of one Steven Crow, coder of
Wizard’s Lair . And it shows. 'The graphics are
very similar indeed, and much of the action is in the
same vein. ^
However there's added fun in the trading side of
things, and a good deal more to do overall. I quite
enjoyed WL, and I quite enjoyed this. If you tend to get
stuck into a game, you’ll probably find this quite
rewarding and a long player. The less dedicated
gamester will not find much different from earlier
games.
Page 78
Amstrad User February 1987
Quite simply the most realistic sports simulation game of all time.
"Hirdball is the best pregrem from Amtrad since Sereeiy
this is net $ game yen are going to tire of goiekty"
..JfSSTRAD COMPUTER USER
Here's eoni|ruter Besebell with S-D
fell-size enimefioe so reel it
almost looks like real TV.
Hardball pets yoa in the
field as both player and maeajer
with control of physical play and strategic
decisions, testing year split-second reactions and
your planned approach to the game.
© Aeeoiaie Inc.
Soft 06063/07063
(KtjftnfhfJofstieli)
f ~TZftL
2WD CUT I
UftyEawcL ’
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CTT;
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ijR C
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^ BUMT
HOftEii
a
AttSTRAD SOLIt HARDBALL AMSTRAD GOLD HARDBALL AMSTRAD GOLD HARDBALL AMSTRAD GOLD HARDBALL
Avaitabfe from AmsoftP.O* Box 10, Victoria House, Simderfand. SRI 3PY Te/; 0Z83 67S395
and good Amstrad computer stockists
Software \ 1984| iimitKl
6€enir^l Street# Maric^^ester M2 5fMfcTtf:t>&i B34.
jwlL- h
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J-!■ *■ “■ ■■ ■"■■»■*■ *'"i■■ ^rro“i "i■< ■• ■ •■ ro3y'• '• '•'*'■' fc£8d'•'■'■'
• »wj^ 100'• '•’COX'j' "Cto — —,,,
REVIEW I
I
>
I
IKARI WARRIORS
Ahem. The President probably doesn't know about this,
but there are American forces in Central America.
Nothing official, you understand, just a few platoons of
highly trained, elite, beweaponed crack troops. Good
thing too, if you ask me, or the efficient war machine of
Nicuaragua might invade the defenceless US of A.
Anyway, as avid arcade addicts will know, the
Commander In Chief US Forces (Central America ( Not
Here Really)), one General Alescander Bonn, has been
captured in hia own HQ. Oh, the ignominy of it. And by
a band of revolutionaries, just to make things worse.
How^ever, before he was overrun, he managed to dash
to the wdreless and send ofT an SOS, detailing his pos-
I ition and a request for help.
i You and your buddy turn your plane towards the HQ,
but you’re flying over rebel infested jungle and one of
the Charlies (wrong war, right idea) just manages to
blow up your engine. The law of gravity is no respecter
of the American Marines, and dowm you plummet into
the jungle.
Luckily for you, you’re unharmed, and both of you
are ready for action. At this point strategy intervenes
and you have to decide whether to go forwards
together, or to .split up and shoot your way there separ¬
ately.
That done, youVe ready for action. It isn't going to be
easy as on the path through the jungle lie hundreds of
: the enemy, all armed, all anxious to kill and all a bit
peeved after w^atehing Rambo.
YouVe got a gun and some grenades, but not enough.
Not enough bullets, either. TheyVe got guns, grenades,
mortars, bazookas and more. YouVe got to relieve them
of some of that hardware if you w^ant any hope
whatsoever of getting to the General and .saving the
Western World from ancsther embarrassing incident.
But they're strangely indisposed to leave such useful
items just lying around, Youll just have to persuade
them with a few chunks of well aimed cordite.
There are various fortifications to overcome. The
guerrillas don't have much stomach for fighting, a few
shots at them and they tend to merge back into the
greenery. But they can come back after you've passed
by and make things a little vv^arm for you at your rear.
Different kinds of explosives have different radii of
effect, and you’ll soon get to know and love your favour¬
ite high explosive firework.
All this takes after the arcade game of the same
name. WTiere that had two joysticks with twisty con¬
trols, this has the option of selecting almost any mix of
two joysticks and the keyboard for the two player,
option. In this mode, cooperation can pay off as you
stroll up the jungle path. By yourself, it's more difficult.
In any case. I’m quite sure that the General would love
to see you. So off you go.
Author: Elii^
Price: £8.95
I was at the PCW show not so long ago, and
Elite had the Ikari machine on freeplay. I
spent quite a lot of time on it, and this version
ig pretty close to what I remember wasting an hour or
so On then.
Strangely, it seems not dissimilar to Llghtforce in
action, but thaf s no problem. Like Lightforce it only
seems difficult to start with. After a few hours
playing, you realise that it is, in fact, impossible. But
maybe if you play for just a little longer ... n~
Yeah! the shoot-em-up is back in town and
this is the best blast iVe had in ages. I
avoided this penny muncher in the arcades
'cause it munched too many of my pennies too quickly.
The stay-at-home version works out much cheaper.
Learning what is ahead of you pays dividends, and
the greatest dividend is a tank. After marching and
blazing away with gun and grenades it Is good to put
your feet up and drive over the enemy.
Two players with tanks can make mincemeat of the
foe - even without help from the pokes in this months
hackers haunt.
The whine of bullets is loud in your ears as
you embark on a Ram bo-style adventure,
running the gauntlet of revolutionaries to
rescue some dumb American General. Can’t say much
for the storyline.
Still, as zapping games go, this one does ~ go, I
mean. The graphics arc good - I especially like the
way you spin round when you're shot. And it was
really sneaky having some of the baddies in
camouflage.
It sounds like an impossible mission - in fact they
tell you on the packaging that you lack the supplies to
win, but somehow, you don’t lei a little detail like that
affect you. You just start the game again.
Amstrad User February 1987
PageBl
REVIEW f
cos'll- llfjjjii'^^.iS:' ■■
NOSFERATU THE VAMPYRE
You’ve read the book, seen the film^ now get bitten by
the game. Following the tried and tested axiom of
“Make yt mysteryous - myspell yt wyth a 20th
Century Fox, in association with Macmillan,nDesign
DesignyPiranha (who are especially good at teeth) bring
you Nosferatu, the Vampyre.
Count Dracula, the immortal neck nipper, is in town.
The town of Wismar, to be precise. Ever mindful of
rising house prices, he wishes to buy a small dente-a-
berre from Renfield’s estate agents, your employers.
They send you, Jonathan Harker, to his castle to
conclude the sale, but in so doing you inadvertently
discover the Count’s true identity, that of Bloodsucker
and Lifedrainer. The ideal estate agent.
Your sense of civic duty dispels any feelings of kin¬
ship you have at this discovery, and you realise that,
should the Count move into towm, it won’t be long
before he^s a pain in the neck to everyone. And house
prices will just plummet.
Quickly you go to the place w^here you left the deeds
to the house. But Nosferatu has grabbed the papers and
vanished 1 And there you stand, alone in the castle at
night. You have to find the papers and escape during
the day, but against you are the spiders, bats and simi¬
lar nocturnal vampyrical emissions.
There are a few bits around with which to combat the
creepy crawlies, but too much ghostbashing will leave
you too weak to escape. During the day, things aren’t
too bad, but at night the forces of evil are at their most
powerful.
Come daybreak the castle doors are unbolted. If you
don’t have the deeds, hut still escape, the Count will
have a toehold in town, and that’s bound to lead to tears
by bedtime. Much better to get the titles before making
good your escape, but it’s up to you.
The scene changes. Now there’s Jonathan, Lucy
Marker (wife) and van Helsing (Lucy’s brother-in-law)
pitted against the Teeth of Terror. Lucy has that special
something which is fatal to vampyres (and it’s not garlic
breath).
Ifi I?
■'S, iiS
Crufil^ix *'*1#'''
Neither of the two males knows of this, and for the
moment they are concerned with clearing the town of
the vermin introduced by the arrival of Nosferatu. They
must also keep the vampyre at bay long enough to drive
him to attack Lucy, because only then will they be able
to despatch him. They’re out for the Count.
Another thing on Nosferatu’s mind is the title deeds
of that house. If Jonathan managed to relieve him of
them in the previous scene, then Draccy might try and
get to Renfield, who’s had a bad breakdown and is
currently residing in the Wismar Laughing Academy.
In his current state Rcnfield might well just hand the
deeds over. To prevent this, Jonathan and Co. must
keep the place surrounded by garlic cloves, A sort of
stake out.
At the end, Lucy must be safe in her house, and
Nosferatu lured towards her. Lucy must trap the two
men, who are still trying to protect her, and tr>' and
keep Nosferatu occupied until daybreak, when she can
fmally destroy him. It ain’t gonna be easy. But nobody
ever said that estate agents had it easy. Well, they did,
but not in Wismar.
AutiUfr: Pirhana
Price: £9SS
I don’t usually like games which use iso¬
metric graphics, but this has to be an excep¬
tion. The screens are well defined - you can
actually make out what things are meant to be, rather
than have them disguised in pretty curls.
The game, which is in three parts, must end in the
defeat of Nasty Nosferatu, your resident vampire, so
crucifixes, garlic, and a friendly exorcist won’t cotne
amiss.
I’m still stuck in the first part, that is, in Nosgie's
castle, trying to retrieve the deeds of the house that
the vamp wants to purchase, but 1 live in hope. And in
the meantime, my breath carries a Government
Health Warning.
The malpractice of wanting to play th e game
without looking at the instructions meant
that I recognised this aa a Design Design
game from the similarity to Nexor and not from the
Logo above the Piranha.
The excellent graphics make this a very absorbing
game, as dusk falls the tension increases. It is difficult,
1 suppose that Piranha would say challenging. A map
is a good idea.
Biting satire would be too easy. But jseriously
folks. Design Design has perpetrated far
fewer turkeys that the average software
house, and this game isn’t one of them.
A pretty standard isometric display, and some
detailed graphics (lots of bathtubs) greet the player,
and some competent coding ensures that the
plot is followed a bit closer than some spinoffs I can
think of,
Some objects aren’t immediately visible, so be
prepared to spend some time bumping into things
fully expoit every situation.
■ ^ C ■ -fc-L :4"
Page 82
Amstrad User February 1087
Oberon International
OMNI-READER
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though the Informatton wos coming from o modem.
The vast mojortty of office correspondence can be reod by the
Omni-Reader which supports the tour major typestyies used. These
are Courier 10, Courier 12. Letter Oothic and Prestige Elite, To enter o
page of text you piece It under the special Omr^l-Reader ruler ond
read the text with an electronic eye, A small computer within the
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Page 83
STOCKMARKET ^
THINKING OF INVESTING? ALREADY AN INVESTOR?
STOCKMARKET enables j-ou to record detail? of
purchase!, sales and dividends of shar^ unit trusts etc.
Currenl share prices can be entered very easily at any
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along with moving averages. Practise buying and selling
shares. See if your intuition is right.
PRICES
'* Sicr; ¥aluc!s ot prices, indexes, exclwi^ rsies etc.
* Up u 26D prices per ^wc (eg. weeidy prices for 5 yicars^
* Tabulate
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* Actual prices supplied as demonsution data Cine FT 30r British Telecom).
* Use curves lo select best buying and selting opponunities.
ACCOUNTS
■ Record lull details ot youf portfolios of stoclts. shares, unit mists etc.
* Praciice- buying and selling technit|ucs aiul accuritely reooed your
progress.
* Up to fkfty shftn;!? per folio. Store, many folk» on one disc.
* Buy and sel] shares with putomaiic calcutatioo of dealing oosls-
* User defiTuibile costs.
* Record dividend yields and pnee csnniiiigs ratios.
'* Update prices and auiomziicalJy updaie yields, P/B ratios' and
iccelculaie individual share and total folio value.
* Record dividend paymenis. iolbI dealing costs and keep cash acccfums.
* Tabulate present ft^kK. past transaciicns. dividends and ca^
accounts.
* Demorisuation dala supplied Comprebensive foriy page manual.
CPC 464 (disc)/664/6128
PCW 8256/8512
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Page 84
Amstrad User February 1887
I
REVIEW
siomething which Slick has designs on, then our hero
needs to drop something heavy on the ofTender and
then snatch whatever it is before the bouncee has
recovered.
Failing thatj Slick can grab the guy and throw him off
a high place, followed by a similar trick to recover the
dropped object. Next time you’re in l^ondon and pick up
something, don’t be surprised to find yourself halfway
down St Pauls and heading in the wrong direction , . .
The time now is Eight Ay Emm precisely. With the
chimes of Big Ben to help you keep track of time, you
have only 16 hours to fox the evil Abru, But if he
catches you before you get the bomb, it’s towels for you
and the Houses of Parliament, so be ready to leg it if His
Swarthyness claps his eyes on you. But with Ijondon
Transport to help you, how can you fail?
CITY SUCKER
The Hewson Crlmbo Binge continues with City Slicker.
Not the first game to be set in London, this one involves
Slick - a la City Slicker - who has been hired by Forces
Official But Nameless to defuse a set of bombs left in
the Houses of Parliament by Abru Cadabra, notorious
terrorist and explosive practitioner.
These bombs will go off at midnight unless Slick can
as^mble the various bits of the MOD^s Bomb Disposal
Unit fBDU) which for security reasons are scattered
around Ijondon, goodness knows where. He doesn’t
even know how many bits there are to get. The Forces
OBN sure believe in security.
He can travel around the capital, as most capitalists
do, by tube. As he manages to obtain the bits of the
BDU he must transport them back to his secret hideout
beneath the Houses of Parliament. And only when he’s
assembled them all can he defuse the bombs.
Around London he can pick up and examine things at
will, He’s limited to carrying six things at once though,
and some objects are just concealed entries and exits.
The player secs the name of the object as Slick bumps
into it and a short stab on the old fire button picks it up
or activates it. A little keybai;hing can make Slick drop
any object in his inventory and this can have profound
effects on the situation.
Ever true to life. Slick can fall various heights. The
farther he fails, the more energy he loaea To overcome
minor problems like fatigue and lack of sleep^ he starts
of with three pep pills which he can pop when required.
And in best gaming tradition, food appears from time to
time for Slick to avail himself of.
London has around seven million citizens, so it’s not
entirely surprising that Slick bumps into one or two on
his search, hike real Londoners, they have various
endearing traitj^. Some enjoy picking up objects, others
bug Slick or bash him up a bit. Still others leap around
the place and leave doors open.
If one of the more kleptomaniacal citizens grabs
Anyone who has been on a tube party or who
has wandered round the capital with a bottle
in one hand and a bemused but happy grin
’adorning his face will enjoy playing this game.
You meander round London picking things up and
evading bullies who push you around and sometimes
take whatever you happen to be carrying.
You are trying to build a bomb disassembly unit to
defuse the bomb Abru has set in the Houses of Parlia¬
ment. Rather a pity it’s not the Other way round , , ,
Tve always had a soft spot for Guy Fawkes,
If you thought that dreadful B movies went
out when colour came in then you haven’t
seen Big Trouble in Little China — I fell
asleep. (And why not? - Ed).
Similarly if you thought that Bickery sprites with a
Mixed feelings about this one, people. 1 saw
the cassette blurb first and thought ^'Ob
goodie, a novel game. With humour yet”.
Then 1 ran it and groaned inwardly, "Another hoary
old platform game’’. Then I played it. And now Fm not
so sure. Yea, it’s another Manic Miner tjrpe of game,
but yes it has bits of humour and is a definite advance-
trite storyline went out with rubber keyboard Spec-
trums you haven’t seen City Slicker.
A Wet Set Jelly clone, Hewson can and has done
better. Fd like to find some redeeming factors, but I
can’t.
ment on the run-of-the-ladder standard (London
Standard?).
The graphics aren't any better than Spectrum
types, and the game itself is difficult, perhaps too
much so for a novice. And the Beefeaters look like Boy
George. And but, and but, and but, I think youll like
it.
Author: Hewson
Price; £8.95
Amstrad User February 1987
Page 85
„..a±;i. :■ "tSS;• 1 ■- ■■S:: ■- ::&?:■
I lifW WWI I! Mj jW I ! ! ;!^
fS' ■ - .: ®-.. :.: fffiCi:: LSS^J ‘ ' t,-: - 'J :. :' ■ ^S':: - '• ^*
::-:^5:^J:^::.:.:i:^^i:;:;:;:-:- ...
:“■ V-' ■.’“1“^ -- •■.oysii • ■ C", • "r--ii' ■ •■i.os.ii ii. : •• • V--’i* ■ ■--i-r - -i-i:i I . •• I
'■■■•■-:■ •■■‘■rTifc.'
•:;■;!:■> 5 ::-:..w;
.?fS3i::::!:
■ ■ ■.■8"' -: ■'-‘- '’^■•■ - - ‘8?5-'‘>'■'■,'. -‘.irnr
"--■- —■-" ■ ■■ ■---■’ .
DEEP STRIKE
OK ch£tps, miike youm^lves comfortablt? atid listen in.
That bounder Von Houbath and his Red Roxkites have
made these parts a bit of a no-^jo area for flyers. Rut 1
know you ehtips are up to a little hun bashing;;, rip^ht?
Good egg.
Now then, this is what we need to do. A little bird
tells me that there’s a big fuel dump just a few miles
east of Haque-sur-Rive^ and that if we can do a bit of
knockout work on it, old Jerry will be in for a hard
winter. Got that? Super.
Now we’re going to use a pretty standard flight pat¬
tern, with four Slopworth Llama bomibers^ protected by
a Mincing Queen fighter. Abbott Ruddlcj Marston and
Theaksbon will be the bomber pilo'ts, and you, Roger
Wilco^ are going to be pushing the Queen. No fancy
tricks, now^^ just get in there, bomb the dump and come
straight back out again. No problems? Good show.
Richardson of Supply reckons that weVe got too
many bomba^ by the way. So if you do happen to fly over
anything that looka useful to the enemy, don^t hesitate
to give it our love. OK? Whacko.
We go at 1300 ?!ulu. Rest of Rritish., chaps. Di3mis.sed.
Er, Roger, will you stay behind for a minute? Thanks,
old man. Now^ this isn't going to he an ordinary Queen
you’ll be flying. The boffins at HQ have fitted some new
hush hush gadgets, and this is going to be the very first
time they’ve been used. Sorry to spring this on you, but
it could just swing things our way in this damned war.
Good man.
I’ll just go over the controls. The joystick’s still stand¬
ard enough, but the compass is all new. All you have to
do is keep it centered and you’ll miss all the flak and
keep on course to boot. Try not to do any detours; youTl
only have enough fuel to go there and back like the
proverbial crow.
What? Oh, very good. Raven mad indeed. Anyway,
pay attention, man. Now those bods have also fitted
' -- f
^ HliUlUfliSi
^ NICH 1 mifi
t miiKHKi
meters, you can see how much danmge you've
sustained and how much ammo and how many bombs
you and the crew have. Rather neat, 1 think.
Now flying this crate should be an absolute df.tddle.
Even 1 could do it, hawhawhaw. All you have U> do is
point it and squeeze a few shots off at the Rosch should
he appear. 3’he Queen should keep herself Irwel at all
tin^ea, no pedals or any of that stuff.
And they’ve linked up some sort of map to the coni'
pass and prop, they think it should tell you where you
are at any time. You’ll have a little sort of picture
thingy, that’s you and the re.'st is all standard symlwls.
Clever stuff Don't know how they do it. I'm sure
Last thing before you go. You’ve been thoseti because
you’re good. And we need you to be gwd - I’ve heard
that Von Koubach has got company, and I'nt afraid it’s
the Black Baron, He got Trarniel, he got Sinclair, he got
Woz. Don't let him get you, eh? (rood lad. Off you go.
And good luck.
Author: Durell
jPrice: £9.95
Durell has long had quite a reputation for
airborne simulations of various types. Thia
one tries to keep the flying side as simple aJ5
possible and make the dogfighting the main attrac¬
tion.
And it almost is. It might have been quite good a
year or so back, but by the best of today's olTerings it
all lacks a certain something. Speed mostly. But if
Biggies wasn't enough, then have a go.
Lemme at this game, Tve read all the Snoopy
books. Oh no, the books were more fun. Slow,
jerky aircraft and a low rate of fire. I know
that double U double U One planes flew slowly but
this is a real disappointment.
The landscape looks good, the gun ernplaceirients
and houses add a touch that many combat games lack
but up in the air w^here the action is, it isri’t
If you're the sort of person who likes flying
around dropping bombs here there and
everywhere, then this is the game for you.
You are flying a World War 1 fighter (that’s where
the phrase dead accurate came from ~ if you weren't
one, you’d surely be the other}. Yaw left to avoid a
mountain (1 said yaw', not yawn!) Nothing out of the
ordinary, but quite a fun game on the whole. Baron
Von Richtofen, eat your heart outE
Page 86
Amstrad User February 1987
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Speclnim Cocnmodcre 54
ilAppk-, VIC, ZXei. NEC PCaSOI A)
It A| all Major Shows A A Motts. Graduata Authors w
COMP1.ETE SELF-TUmON GCSEyCCE COURSES
AS
SEEN ON TV
WORLD LEADERS *
(Each gonOins 24 programs}
E5 0fftotatror2,
ElOqftotalforS,
MICRO ENGLISH (CPC +PCW)
Co jr^ tahing begirners to Engtigh
Language QCSE, Inoorporates real
speech, m extras, required. 2
t^&'disCC24
MICRO MATHS (CPCtPCW)
Course lading beginrieis. ((rom age
0 yrs} lo O-Level/GCSE. 24
pfograrrisoe 59 topics on 2
tape&^disc + 2 books £24
MEGA MATHS (CPC)
A-Level course for mature
beginners, A-Le^eJ Students or
Micro Maths users. Covers 105
topics on 2 lapes^'disc + bocks £24
THE BBD AMSTRAD DUST
COVER COLLECTION
Tailored m rtylon fabric that has been treated with an anti-static
inhibitor. Attractively finished wilh contrasting piping. Can be
washed and ironed.
PC 1512 C8.50
2 piece set in ivory coloured nylon. Monitor piped in maroon
AMSTRAD pc hot loll printed on keyboard covers. Please slate
colour or mono screen.
PCW 8256/8512 £11.95
3 piece set in soft prey. Monitor and printer piped in green.
AMSTRAD PCW hot foil primed on keyboard.
CPC 6128/664/464 £7.50
2. piece set in dar1<. grey nylon piped in red. AMSTRAD CPC hot
foil prlnlsd on keyboard. Please state whelher colour or green
monitor.
PRINTER COVERS TO MATCH
Send coupon or ptioneorcte rsor requests for tree colour catalogue tor
LCL, (Dept. AU), Melody House^ Greys Hoad,
Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire
Tel; 0491 579345 (lOam-IOpm)
Name _
Address
TJUe . _
Computer_DIscAape
A range of covers (or over 200 printers lo match any of the above
covers eg. Amstrad 2000 and 3000, Brother, Canon, Epson,
Mannesmann, Star. Ricoh, Smith-Corona. Prices start from
£4.50*
Please make cheques payable lo;
BBD DUST COVERS
The Standish Centre, Cross Street,
Standish, Wigan WN6 OHQ.
Telephone: 0257 422368
Available in the Southern Hemisphere from TECH-SOFT
324Stirling Highway, Claremont $010 West Ausiraiia,
I Tel:(00]3B5 tB85
— SPECIA L OFFER
CPC 6123 Odour E365.0Q
PCW 8256 £407.00
PCW 8512 E51D.00
Prices inc. VAT, plssse add t5 lor P.(P
AMSTRAD PC1512
at Newcrown now
please ring for details
AMSTRAD SOFTWARE
CPC ei?a
S275.ffl
CPC464 4DQf]
E275.D0
cwp?(mpnTtef
flSI.flO
DOl-1 (dKdrive|i
ei43.W
FOI-1 (dfecdiivflt
Q9.IID
FO'2 (dccdtiw hr a2£ei
Cl 25.(10
CPS8256 iWidaa hx
05.00
3' Floppy bnce IfiUa al 10)
C32.00
JY i Ijoysiich)
£3.00
bsc [Mve Coop«ctar Ladd
H.OD
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£3.00
Pimtw LMd lOWrYwlTB],
£3.00
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C2G.00
AMSTRAD PCW SOFTWARE
Supvcifc?
£33.96.
DR GtkAiCiR Omv
£35.fl0
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£13.36
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£13.50
TasprinI 3900
£12.90
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£14 90
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£13.96
Jnwis ol DwhMa (fflZSj
Cl4.a6
ZaU
£17.36
Popular Aocourfc iSagdoctJ
£69 96
Poputif Slocks Irtiwing /Sa^Beafl)
£43.96
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£49.96
f4#p4c«iiK wr,
Tip*
Disc
Mn OHoa 1
cii.tio
£U,»
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CIS.®
£191.96
Master Fie III
C».96
T.3?Hr[l-6129
£1450
Ette
£10.96
£14.96
Eidokm
£7.50
£11.50
V
£6.50
£11.50
ShoQun
£7.50
C11.50
Slain les±9tHi
£6.00
£10.50
GhotEllCdifan
£7.®
£10.»
Music Sfslam
£11.W
£15.95
Greer B«el
te.w
£1153
Big^
£750
£11.50
Games
rem
£11.00
2112AD
C6,M
£1ClOO
Ovuimriscin
■CT.m
£11.00
jKk It^ IfiRw
£6.00
£11.00
Prs) T+rtn*
£6.00
£11.50
Rmcm* OP F'adalus
£7.00
£11.70
Rabel Pteiec
£6.00
£11.95
£7.00
£1(!l95
Room 10
£6.00
£11.95
Aiwiaor
£11.00
E14.S0
Intematonal Karfrtt
£6.00
£10.00
Cauldron II
£600
£10.00
l/limar Gamas
£700
£11.50
VUinlef Spods
£750
£1150
TonuliaiMt
CSS]
£1050
LaimSaw
fll.m
£1500
N^ Gumef
£6 DO
£1000
Kmg Fu Master
£650
£1000
Jewebdl Deikriess.
£1000
£1495
Bi^rib Jsk
£600
£1PS0
Sp*id£Z)r
£600
£1DS0
TheiSre^ AdverrlLre
OeSe/T rai.
ElSiO
£21M
£7.00
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Baknai
£6.00
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CWwm
£700
£1150
Lwmofo*
kYtlralof
£7.00
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£11,59
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SoldaMiion S
£700
£1150
NwGaim. 3
£7 .SO
£12.06
Dnad
£600
£10,S&
Our C)ain|>|«t* prlc« Ibt I* much blggar than thit, w* *p«<:|al|M In
Airwtrid Harchwart A aolm«r«, pl«*«» rWg tor d«liil> or uud in uja.
for our cfliflogu*
ALL PRICES INCLUOE VAT ^ DEUVeRY IH UK ONLY
OVERSEAS CUSTOMERS PLEASE ADD 5W PER SOFTWARE FOR
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MAIL ORDER CUSTOMERS PLEASE MAKE CHEQUES PAYABLE TOl
NEWCRQWH COMPUTERS LTD_
aa-lOO Hightcwn Road
Luton, Beds LU2 ODQ (UK)
Tet : (0582) 455684
This penon My
eit you if you
ilon’t huy i?IPL.
ONl-V
£ 89.95
troll MNBO FRODUCIIOM
A/gr ^
9
VIDI©
THE Viddo Digitiser/Frame Grabbei
ForCPC4M/664/612a
Grobs Complete Frumes from Video or Camera
Gfobiln Model Of Mode 2
Updoties Amstmd Sereen in 0*3 seconds
DIgItlset 16 shade* In Mode 0 In under4 seconds
Full 5o#waie control ol
16 Separata Level* of ContrcBt and Brightness
ALSO: ROMBO ©
THE 8 - Rom Box That fJte ALL CPC Machines
£34.95 inc p&p from:
Rornbo PiDducttons, 62 MeodawbanJc,
Lodywell, Livingston, West Lothian, EH&4 6EL
Tet <P506) 39046
AU PPOOUCTS IN STOCk, FULL REFUND ■= NOI DiliOHTID
Amstrad Ueer February 1987
Page 87
The PCW 8256 & 8512
Desk Top Companion
Printer Stand
Only £9,50
Why Let The Space Taken by your Printer be lost
(you amid tuck your TTtodm or second dirsr drive under it)
Next irooth vve mil be launching two more exciting additions to the
Desk Top Companion range- A unique monitor mounting pnnrer
stand and mcrdtrir mounting tray, bc?lh d^igriod to sav& or makt
space on your desk.
All the products in the MEAC Designs Desk Top Companion range
ara di!signed spedficaUy for ycwii PCW to ensure that they blend in
with the PCW's original design concept. Simple yet effident. Desk Top
Companions are in)ection moulded and simply plug into existing
holes in yourPCW, ik 3 screwing or glueing is required.
Our pdcM aie lU InduaLve of VAT and P&F
8256 Memory Upgrade Kit Only £23.95
Complete with easy to follow instructions & photographs. If you find
one cheaper in this magazine we promise
to match or beat it.
I
Send' your Cheque or Postal Orders made
payable to AfEAC Designs to
MEAC Designs, Dept AC
I Little Craft, Yateley, Camberley.
Surrey, GU17 7BU
hen rt comes to making the most
of your AjnstrjcJ 0Z56 and 85IZ,
whoftse would )Ou tum to few guidiixe
than them^elveit Citady th«
undeputed enperu on our product - and on
[lassinig on their benefits to- .
NEW TRAINING COURSES
Our new one diji traimr^g sesiioris hast been
designed tDgi« you the most comprehenswe
knowledge of your CDflnputer and how to get
the most out of it. Unlike many other courses,
we inset on no moie th#i six per training
group And every parlKipant is given he or
her own AmsUid Computer to work frT?m,
REAL VALUE FOR MONEY
A fun one-diy tritoing course at our
corwenient Newcastle. under-Lyme Training
Centre costs yusl £79 {including VATJ. And
BOOKNOW
The traimr^ courses which ire running now
aie |ust one more example of our
outstaindingafteisaies service {an Adv^ed
Arrwlrad User course is also Hollowing
shortly).
like lo advise you that space is
limited. 3o why not avoid the risk of
di^pomtment and phone tliss lUihenne
Edge nght now on 07$Z ^.lOCHI {ext. JCS) to
book your places {or for further details).
Amctrad DiiCributRw Lid
PO Bow 299, Mewcaetle. 'Staft, 9T5 7QS,
the price includes a delicious lunch and
refreshments.
wwwf M A lEmrff
Then climb out by learning to use your
AWISTRAD lo Its tulf potential with our unique
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Courses designed for any age or interesV
If you have had enough of playing games or typing
in endless program listings that don't run there's a
MfCROWlSE correspondence course designed
tor you.
* ForCPC464y664/612S
* No Previous Experience Required
* Beginners & Childrens Courses
* Texts & Software Supplied
* Coursework Graded to Suit
* Individual Tutor Support
Send coupon, NO STAMP REQUIRED,
TO:
FREEPOST Colchester, C03 4BR.
Name.,.,,,......
Address.......
ACU2/a7
THE ANIMATED DRAWING &.
GRAPHICS PROGRAM FOR THE
CPC 6128 &. 664
The highly gcclairriecl graphics program which mifrtl« the anisc^a
every frtCjve.
Addictive tin use, addictive to watch; pn-xluces Sfuftning displays
quickly and easily^ even for non arfisrs.
An extremely versatile program able to pruduce a wide taryge of
dtsplayt' all In glorious action whkh makes orher graphics
programs seem bnrinfl and tedious.
EHsplays can be run from your own progr-ams or independently.
Package Lncludkrs program, 12 deruonsttarion displays,
comprehensive Instructions, compccltian entry form, acetate tracing
sheets and sppKial pen-
Thc program other well known names wanted to publish but
ccaildn’t afford the royalrics and a decent coirpetltionf
I
I
Available from: Treasure Island Sciftwarc. {Dept PU)-,
14 Arthur Stneeth Amptklll, Beds- MK45 2QQ.
ORDER FORM
Please send me Farrorry packages by return.
I enclose cheque/P.O. for £ : {Overseas £1 extra please)
Natmp . . ... ...
Address
I
I
Page 88
Amstrad User February 1987
REVIEW I
STREET MACHINE
If you've played Super Sprint in the arcades
you'll have loved it - if you didn^t then there
is something wrong with you, *tis the'hottest
game for quite a while.
Unfortunately, despite the mass of mechanical
work which can be done to repair your machine, noth¬
ing can be done to improve it beyond showroom
standard.
Many of the techniques are the sarne^ slide into
corners, wait 'till the nose is pointing at a straight and
then hit the loud pedal. A surprise from Software
Invasion.
This game could very easily become habit
forming and has certainly entered my all
time top ten. The execution of the idea is
masterly and is only slightly floored by the main¬
tenance screen - after a while this gets a wee bit
tedious and as soon as I can find the POKE this
feature will be well and truly dii^abled so that 1 can get
on with the driving.
The realism of handling on loose surfaces is one of
the m^or factors that makes the game a joy to play.
I don't know if the fixed map might become a bit of a
drawback in the long term but Tm sure someone will
come up wdth a way to edit the map before very long as
this game should become a classic.
Most of us will never own an exciting sports car and can
only dream about the joys of flinging an engine jam-
packed with horses around tight curves at great speed.
That was until Software Invasion hit the scene with
their new car driving game. Street Machine.
There are tw^o schools of thought as to the best way to
represent the motion of your mean motor. There is the
out of the front window 3D view brigade. This allows
the authors to indulge their graphic whims but usually
to the general detriment of the game itself.
Then there is the Flatland approach which foregoes
one of Einstein*® dimensions but is a damn sight easier
to program and hopefully allows more time to be
devoted to the development of the gameplay.
It 13 this second approach that is used in Street
Machine. Your little red sports car, seen from the sky^ is
kept pretty central on the screen while the world moves
around it.
To move the 16k of Arnold's screen memory at the
speed that is achieved is quite an achievement. It relies
on the whole screen being moved so that hardware
scrolling can be used. Because of this nothing in the
way of status or score is shown on the screen.
The game seems to take ages to load, probably
because it uses so many separate small files, While
loading a screen gives absolutely nothing away about
the great graphics that are to follow’.
Once loaded, an eight score high table is showm on
which it is possible to pick a number between one and
eight in order to choose which entry you would like to
try and set. As soon a® this choice is made the screen
changes to show your car waiting on the line ready for
the off-
The aim is to get round the track as quickly as pass¬
ible. There are other car® on the track which you can
try and keep up with and perhaps even overtake, but
this doesn't aeem to score you more at the end of the day
and their presence is more likely just to spook you into
trying too hard and making a mistake.
The map is quite large considering the amount of
memory available. The inlay suggests that it is
equivalent to about three miles on a full scale circuit
and this would seem to be a pretty fair estimation, The
circuit never changes, but if anything this is a good
thing because it takes quite a long time to become
familiar with the whole circuit - obviously a great
advantage when you are haring round trying to get the
best time possible.
Control can be by either keyboard or joystick though,
as alw^ays, the latter is infinitely preferable. Left and
right steer the car left and right, moving the joystick
forward is your welly control while pressing the fire
e Maser and Lotus on the cover hide the
fact that this game has about as much to do
with racing flash cars as a Reliant Ftobin has
with rally cross.
In your flatland you have the road almost to
yourself - Td sack the town planner who built three
miles of road for four cars - but then you aren't asked
to believe, just play the game. And it's really jolly
good, takes a bit of getting used to, though waiting for
the car repairs to be finished are almost as much of a
pain as the real things
Page 89
Ajnatrad User February 1987
button will hopefully slam on the anchors.
In the very likely event that you lose it and the car
spins ofFj hitting a fence post or building at the side of
the roadt one of three things might happen. If you were
going really slowly your car is put back at the side of the
road with only a short delay.
If your foot was on the floor then it’^s curtains and
back to square one. However, if you managed to brake
enough the car will not be completely written off but
instead you get a chance to fix the damaged bits,
The screen changes to Mode 2 from the colourful
Mode 0 in which the main game is played and a display
of about 70 (yes seventyI) car parts are shown. Each is
followed by a percentage which is the amount of
damage that part has. in the sixty seconds that count
down on the clock you must move a highlighting cursor
to any that are severely damaged.
As the cursor sits on a particular part name its
damage count goes down at the same rate as the 1/
lOOths counter of the clock. Any vital part must have
less than 79 per cent damage at the end of the minute
or the game will end. Some parts, such as the wind¬
screen are not vital and so it doesn'^t matter if they still
have more damage at the end, Assuming you manage
to get enough fixed in the time, control returns to the
main game for you to continue the lap - otherwise it^s
goodbye Vienna.
A whole minute added to your lap time each time you
have a little knock soon persuades you to drive a little
more carefully even if it does mean going a little slower.
If you make it to the end of lap one its back to the
start for more of the same^ but this time it's after dark
and a nasty thunderstorm has hit town, Now, as all
careful drivers will know, when it rains handling gets a
little more tricky. Actually with practice this is more
fun than the relatively boring dry roads,
Now^ it is quite possible to swing the car right round a
hairpin by just applying a bit of brake and pulling a
really tight turn. Handling is in fact very realistic, so if
you start to lose the back end the worst thing to do is
apply the brakes. A much better idea is to hit the floor
and drive out of the skid. At first this inevitably proves
fatal but with practice it gets quite easy.
And practice is certainly what you will need if you
make it to lap three, because this time there has been a
heavy fall of snow and the roads have become decidely
icy. There is no point in trying to fly round at full tilt,
you just wouldn’t make it past the first bend.
So chug round at a sort of medium speed and remem¬
ber to turn into a bend about 50 yards before you get to
it. That way the back end will just about be responding
by the lime you get to the centre of the bend.
Author: Software Invasion
Price: £7S5
BONZO MEDDLER [for ANY CPC]
THE dedicated TAPE TO DISC utility
* A VERY COOD * USEFUL **1 «l vmt* tt n AHAZHCLV LOW PRICE'. AMTfX, AUC. *
■ TRANSFEFIS aM Standard BASIC, BtNARVS ASCII files.
■ COP ES with some H EADE RLESS and some F LASHLOADERSI!
TRANSFERS MOST "SPEEDLOCKED" PROGRAMS-
■ AtrrO’HELOCATOR - EXTENDED CATALOGUE ♦ RE-NAMES for
AMS DOS
■ FULL STATUS DISPLAY* AUTOMATIC ♦CUTEDISC INCLUDED I
Does MORE for LESS! Just £5.00 inclusive
BONZO MEDDLER will satisfy the most demancUng user, but tor
devoted "meddlers" we now offer:
BONZO SUPER MEDDLER
* ALL the leatures of the aoclaiined BONZO M EDD LER Plus
"BONZO'S RAM DAM**
* A set of files to further enhance ihe powerful BONZO,
* If yo j can pf ess a key - YOU can use RAM DAM.
- Put ewn more TU RBO'S and -FUNNY LOADERS" to DISC 11
* No re-narring or "juggting" reed^-
FACTS: Despitedaimsofolher advertisers BONZO SUPER
MEDDLER (without Ihe use ottiost proorams) transfers MORE lor LESS
and uses LESS MEMORY! Oelai Is of TRANSFERS supplied
BONZO BEATS THE "ULTIMATE''!
Just £7.50 inclusive (transfers Uselfi
<I3B^ BONZO CLONE ARRANGER
‘ RELEAS E VALUABLE Dl SCS tor CURRENT USE IISAVE POUN DS!!
THE DISC MISER. 'TULL DISC TO TAPE AUTOMATICALLY**
* A C60 SECURELY STORES TWO COMPLETE DISCS- EASY
RECOVERY
* INCLUDES A SURE R B DISC TO D ISC COP IE R, COP ES WITH THOS E
TUNNY FORMATS'!-RAPID FORMATTER, (inc. IBM)* EASYTOUSE
Just £6 Inclusive or £5 with any ether program
UPGRADES
The RAM DAM files will upgrade a BONZO MEDDLER to SUPER. £3
* IDLE MEDDLER to BO^O MEDDLER £3 - SUPER £5.50
* ANY other TAPE TO DISC tor BONZO MEDDLER E4 - SUPER £6
All programs wllh FULLinelFiKdone. NEMESIS give FULL alter sales
support AND a NEWSLETTER. ISSU E B NOW BEADY.
wilh Chsquepost^ order M pf refi/flpeft cn ^-Sffrpe
* BOtSO SUPER srrdBONlO CLONE iogett>ef W on$ ^SC£J$
10 Carlow Road
NEMESIS IACU2/S71
, Rirtgslead, Ketlering, Norln
anla NN14 4DW
£53
£22
£4D
CHATTERBOX. “* MEW FROM ICD.S* For the PCW " £150
Complete communications system. Comprehensive
features |nc, R3 & Centronics interface &. multi-standard
baud rate modem. Auto Dial/Auto Answer. All in one
self-contained unit.
RS232 ft CENTRONICS INTERFACE (For the PCW)
Connect to other printers, computers ft modems.
Items below are for the 464, 664 and 61models.
CENTRONICS PRINTER “T" SWITCH, (can be used
on PCW with RSyCentronics interface),
Connect 2 printers (Ine. Daisy Wheel) to your
Amstrad, Switchable under software control.
POWER CONTROLLER* (Can be u&ed on PCW with
RS/Gentronica interface). Featuring 6 switching refaya. Up to
S amps AC/DC.
MINI-MAX.r^'^NEW FROM K.D.S. £70
Ouaiity modem for use on any computer with RS232
interface. Has muiti-standard baud rates and Auto Dial/Auto
Answer, Attractively cased.
CPC SERIAL INTERFACE NEW FROM K*D,S. £40
Connects to most modems, other computers and seriai
printers. Multi-standard baud rates. Comms. Pak software
buiil in on ROM (features simiiar to those of the
Communicator 104).
SIDEWAYS ROM BOARD £26
Now new & way board. Takes 3 or 16K ROMs
8 BIT PRINTER PORT £17
Send all character codes (i.e. 0 to 255) to your printer. Uses
standard Prints commands etc. Unique design. No power
input required,
COMMUNICATOR 154 (CPC) E153
Complete communication system with built-in interface.
Multi-standard baud rales, Auto Diai/Auto Answer etc.
Comms. Pak software buiit In on ROM. Contact bulletin
boards, Prestel, ST Gold, Micrqnet etc.
vat to be aoqed to above prices
ScikI cheque or P.O. with ord^r.
Free MlcroUnk jubscri|ptien with every modem
pirchssed. Send SA.£. x 4'') tor del^ils oi
SA.L (16"' X 7") if free communiulioes guide
requind 9S well,
K.D.S. ELECTRONICS, Dept. G.
15 Hill Street, Hunalentoft, Norfolk.
Tel; 04853 2076
ELfcraomcs
!
Page 90
Anifltrad User February 1987
3-D CLOCKCHESS
Created in consultation with InternatliDnal Grandmaeter
and British Chess Champion Jon Speeiman.
FAST lAiith uniqme metnod ■of selling levels lt?y time. 'Play againsi The
clocln' and 'matching time' modes.
PEMETRATiMO at tournameni levels - looks ai least seven moves deep.
FRIENDLY -eVfery possible feature. Ideal tutor foj beginner and expert alike.
V£f^StJS COt-OSSt/S CHE^S; "3-0 Cfocff Ctjess pfsys a stronger
game" — p^jitting vOur awstrad to work sept. i§e6
BRIDGE PLAYERO^
A challenging and realistic program for all bridge enthusiasts^^^
VERSATILE bidding roulines give you a really woniry opponent.
POWERFUL bidding and play to appeal to the most experienced player
whilst being am excellervl tutor lor beginners.
COMPREHENSIVE on-soreen displays^ keep you informed at all times.
The ultimate ralinement in home computer versions of this
sophislitated card classic — FEATURES include;
* Opiion to specify poiol count * rebid;replay *self^pilay mode
"ExceiTiferrf c^iess program .. .tar ioo good for me.. . yvtft tdit et'en
ftfonger piayen" — amsirad ACt»ON
* move onto next hand
All you ever wanted to know about GRAPHICS, THE
UNIVERSE AND EVERYTHING on the PCW 825e/i
8512 ...but were afraid to ask."
50+ routines and 100% PCW fiZ5C/a512 compaiibillty—ihe ultimate PCW Toolkit.
* Create DEVASTING GRAPHICS OUTPUT including fast smooth sprites. + Make direct
use of RAM disc. + Create User Defined graphics. + Modify character set and sand
enlarged characters and UDG's 1o printer. A EKperiment with sound routines. + Directly
access video RAM system. + Discover hitherto unpublished hardware intomnation—Port
specificatione and Edge connector diagram. + Access CP/M tuoctions with ease.
ROUTIWES INCLUDE: LiW drsw^&rasa ■r^M.el plot^erase ■ Ftood hN - Creale sprite -Plal sprite - Move sprits -Change
Character set ■ Use^r delir^ed graphwS -Turn scrBan ofiton - Invent screen - Sound ^nd UCXi's and DouMs neighUdOuWe
width f haraciers io pfinter Wail lor Fran*e flyback ■ Delay ■ Randomiser - Move cur^r anywhere ■ Read joysltCK ■ Disc
motor olUon ■ Full software reset - SavefLoad Memory 1ro<n d'SC pr RAM disc - Find system Clock ■ SsvG^Load screen
Irom disc . .ANp MUCH MORE!
''Ve/safii^e. .wjde range of urse^uJ funcrjons:...good manual ..evce^/eefpacJi'ade''
- 8000 PLUS 4 A NU ARY 180?
BRIDGE
PLAYER 3
3-D VDICE
CHESS
Caseetle ElZ.f5 Disc . .C15.9S
Unique program hr mgs you -sU the playing
power of the origiiyal Am$traC S-uperchess,
plus SPEECH ard 3-0 graphics. Beginners to
expert levels with classic helpful Features:
* Analyse mode ^ prr^blsm solving * large
Opening library * help menu * change colours
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Cassette... £5.95 Disc £9-95
Com plate wilh stfategic hints. Kings and
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Continuing the tradifiort oF qualily, this
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THANATOS
Could 1987 be the Year of the Dragon? Yes, if Durrell's
latest game catches on. Thanatoe is an arcade adven¬
ture involving control of a large green dragon though a
series of hazards to complete an important quest.
Usually the dragon is the bad guy in a story. Than-
atos the dragon is the good guy and a dragon’s gotta do
whatta dragons’s gotta do, so burning people, breaking
into castles, dropping rocks on knights is what must be
done. This is turning the works of Jeffrey Archer
through ninety degrees (a novel twist), as usually the
dragon gets it in the end (or the side or the front). In
this game that will happen anyway* unless you’re very
good.
The game is a sort of dark age defender where the
dragon flies left or right across a scrolling landscape.
Durrell has enlarged the idea so that the landscape is
shown in three dimensions with foreground and
background objects that move at relative speeds. The
dragon is well animated as it flies, flapping its wings
and wagging its tail (it’s a happy dragon).
Joystick or keyboard control adjust height and speed.
The dragon starts on the ground and by walking for¬
ward and pushing up with the joystick he can be made
to take off, wings flapping. Flying as any executive will
tell you, is the only way to travel, walking don’t get you
anywhere.
However various unpleasant things are encountered
on the journey to the dragon’s first engagement. Giant
bees that fly just behind and sting Thanatos up the bum
are a real pain. Then there are the people on the ground
chucking rocks and spears. Later on* as progress
through the game is made, there are swooping birds,
sea serpents that rise from the stretches of water and
when flying through caves rocks that fall from the
ceiling and spiders that bite.
Each attack makes poorThanatos’s heartbeat faster,
until after hitting maximum for a few seconds it gives
out and Thanatos explodes into a cloud of dust. Rest can
restore the heart rate, shown as a beating heart in the
lower portion of the screen, but some places are more
restful than others.
Thanatos has two weapons with which to defend
himself. Breathing fire is om way of getting rid of those
annoying pests and the obstructing castle gates.
Another way of eliminating pests is to swoop down and
snatch them with a well aimed claw or perhaps grab a
rock and then bomb them with it. There is only so much
fiery breath a dragon can make, bo when it runs out a
swift about face and race back a few leagues will
uncover a witch tied between two stakes.
The hag must have half a hundredweight of nutty
slack stuffed up her corset ’cos walking up and eating
her is supposed to put a bit of fire in Thanatos’s belly.
Where there's a witch there’s also a knight watchman
with a particularly devastating line in lancing. A quick
jab in the rear quarters will swiftly end a promising
career in damsel distressing.
So apart from negotiating the perils, the object of the
game is to pick up a girl by the name of Eros. She can be
found in the first castle* Then carefully* so as not to lose
the 16 pixel high temptrcs.^:* the second castle must be
entered and the speU book retrieved. Apparently there
is a third castle with a cauldron and ...
It only remains to mention the music. The music is
quite good.
Author: Durell
Price: £9,95
As a change from the usual* Thanatos is a
successful attempt to make an exciting and
playable game. It resembles a shoot-em-up
rather than the normal multiscreen or icon driven
games that we usually see for the Amstrad. A good
element of stategy is involved. I don’t mean you have
to think too hard to play it Just that success or failure
doesn't hinge on accurate control or fast reflexes*
although these help.
My main criticism is that it uses one colour sprites
and Mfxle 1 graphics* so although the game looks good
the authors have simulated a Spectrum game on the
Amstrad.
Puff the magic dragon may have been cute
but Thanatos is more FierytaH than fairytale*
And what a change it makes to play the evil
dragon.
Thanatos is beautiful, you have to respect the artist
who drew him and the programmer who put life into
his pixels. Flicking up rocks and dropping them is very
satisfying but not a particularly good way of killing
the men. Still a touch of the garlic breath is just as
effective.
If you’ve always wanted to be a fire breathing
dragon* and who hasn’t* then thi.s is for you.
So Durrell isn’t all hot air, This original game
is a little like the Apple/IBM/Gommodore/
Arcade classic Choplifter. It gives you a real
feeling of power as you beat your wings and swoop
down on the feeble little men. A quick blast of the fiery
breath to dispatch ’em. But watch out for their sharp
sticks and stones, they can hurt a dragon.
Page 92
Amstrad User February 1987
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Page 93
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Page 84
Amstrad User February 1987
SSSE5...": LlJ:::
wtwwff"
cSSS-j'!;
•: «5tS& >(tio?.'
:&]s:
. c™ -
H:£c'J
5 •:«: > :•:~: •: •: ^ 0003 > •: cooDi:? *: •: orooijJ
j.: "S8S?0i: .'i’S&M:: -
■■•■•■ .-T-
380
■m---
TERRA COGNITA
With a bJa 74 j of publicity Code Masters has appeared,
throwing boasts nf irruniuent greatness. Also thrown up
was Terra Cognita, the first game I’ve seen from this
source. So let's ha ve a look-see.
Far into the future, on Krion (as in for krion out loud?
SoiTy. Do carry on), a remote barren planet orbiting a
dying sun Ccor, atmcispheric or what? Whatj 1 think . ,
three mining engineers encounter the remains of a
Warrior Kobnt, Mining engineers being what they are,
one k iched the head Juat for fun. And the head began to
Kpeak.
It told of (they always “tell of’, never just ''say” . , a
terrible tale of mankind's destruction of Krion, And
then the ground beneath the hapless trio began to
vibrate, and the rest of the Robot hove into view, All of
it. And the rest of the planet’s defence system^ now
renovated and hungry for revenge, appecired from the
aeona-thick layer of dust.
The miners decided that hanging around there was
not particularly conducive to continued good health,
and raced for their scnutship, intending to leave
forthwith. But the planet-wide fortress was having
none of this. As the tiny scoutship sped off its landing
place, force beams sprang up everywhere.
And there are wave after wave after wave of droids
(fierhaps you thought that droid derived from android,
meaning man like in appearance, as opposed to robot,
which can be any old shape. So did 1. Rut apparently
not. These droids are just lumps of death-dealing metal.
Oh well).
Against these machinations^ you have your photon
laser beam fis there any other kind of laser?). Not to he
confused with a Futon Lai^e-er beam, which is a lump of
w{K>d fiuardian readers sleep on. This (the photon, not
the futon) smashes the spaceships into a thousand
pieces, but does not autorepeat. Tush.
As you fly over the surface your proton drive uses
fuel. But, of course, there are family-sized bags of fuel
V ' V
f ^
just lying around on the surface, waiting to be picked
up. Grab one of those, and your problems are over, . .
for the moment. Running out of fuel is too horrible to
contemplate.
As befits an advanced scoutship way in the future,
you can travel at any one of three speeds (I had a bike
once with three speeds . . .). Dehyped proton drive is
one, known to the non-scientific as slow. Then there’s
standard proton drive, medium to you chuck. And
finally, there’s Warp Drive, (jto on, guess. That’s it.
Faf^t, But anything other than medium can only be
sustained for a short length of time.
And then there’s the time shifts. Just like snakes In
snakes and ladders, these drop you back to the begin¬
ning again. What fun.
At the end of this terrible torment of twisting terrain
lies your mothership and safety. Bet you won’t make it.
Autfmr: Code Masters
Price: £2.99
ap! Zap!! Dodge to the left, pick up some
fuel. Veer rights on to the bonus . . .. and die
miserably. This could have been quite a go<Kl
"game (I alw^ays enjoy zapping aliens^ baddies and any
other nasties that cross my path), but why oh why did
Code Masters only give the poor mining engineer
(that is, me) only one life?
I know they promise you can pick up more en route,
but I w^as too thick to find any. Still, not bad . , . it
rather grows on you, and you can't stop playing it till
someone rips the joystick out of your hands.
My sore fingers belie my addiction to shoot-
em-ups and the Konix Speed King. Terra
Cognita is an ideal budget game - no brains,
all blast. The graphics suit Mode O and the scroll is
pretty smooth.
You need to learn some of the routes and avoid dead
ends, although losing a life in this way can often be
negated by picking up a bonus. I thought that a wall
all the way across the screen was a bit mean. This is
very moreish, and a creditable start for Code Masters.
Another repeat epic, this time from the
person who brought the world Non Terra¬
queous, in w^hich you travel forwards over a
scrolling landscape, shooting at oncoming aliens and
avoiding groundbased installations.
Not only doc^s it sound familiar, but it plays familiar
as well. Tf r said hightforce . . . yes, I thought so. But
th is lacks that certain something. The graphics are
shoddy, and the game not well thought out at all.
The descending nasties are completely lacking in
variability, and there’s not much in the way of graded
difficulty either. Just having one life at the beginning
(though you can get more) is another annoyance. If
you want a shoot-em-up, get a good one. And this ain’t
it.
Amstrad User February i9ST
Page 95
ELEKTRA GLIDE
Question: What's Elektra Glide? Answer: The first fan¬
tasy racing epic^ that’s what* None the wiser? Let me
elucidate.
YouVe no doubt played a Grand Prix/Pole Position
type of gamej where you peer out of a Formula 1 cockpit
as you speed around a racetrack. That’s the racing bit.
Only this time you haven’t got any wheels. That’s the
fantasy bit.
!n fact there aren't any other racers on the track
which snakes across the featureless plains which were
once America, Scotland, Wales, England and Australia.
The occasional deciduous tree whizzes past the muU
ticoloured border along the road. That’s the epic bit.
No pit stops, no overtaking, no rear view mirrors, no
nufTinks. The idea, so the blurb haa it, is that the
'^experience of driving is EVEKYTHING]"*
What you have got to contend with in place of the
more established hazards are things which are weird.
For example, there’s the homing globe, looking much
like Rover from the Prisoner apart from the pulsating
colours, which attempts to place itself in front of you
and slow you down. If you do hit it, it goes racing offinto
the blue sky above the strangely repetitious mountains
in the distance, and you stop.
In a similar vein there’s a revolving cube that
occupies one lane. Collision with this has the same
effect, but at least this geometrical entity doesn’t come
chasing after you.
Let’s not forget the spaceship, or maybe it’s just a
rocket, which flies overhead and beams down attacking
electrostatic columns* Hit one of these and you, er, stop
again. They tend to be beamed down in chicane type
patterns, so a little weaving might well be in order.
The ultimate objective is to get from one tunnel to
another in the shortest possible time, that is, avoiding
such no-nos as driving off the track or hitting one of the
above mentioned hazards. Even the tunnels, where a
bit of nifty driving can result in a bonus, have bends in
Let me consult my trusty thesaurus . . * ah,
here we are. Boring, uninteresting, irksome,
^ monotonous, tedious, wearisome, drag^ng,
unenjoyable, unentertaining, strictly for the birds,
unamusing, repetitive, humdrum, leaden, soulless,
mundane, plain, prosaic, chronic, cloying, uniform,
nauseating, fatiguing, prolix, insipid, dryasdust.
just for you to fall off and slow down in.
At the beginning of the game you can select the
steering control envelope which best matches your joy¬
stick. This is a curve which determines which part of
the track your joystick is most responsive over. So you
can have the steering particularly sensitive at the edges
of the track, but relatively diead in the middle, if you so
want.
There^s also '^an original .sound track by Yekao!”,
which is almost an anagram of OK, Ya? It’s also almost
music. . .
The track goes zipping past at quite some speed, On
your front panel (anyone rememlier PDP-Ss?) you've
got a time-to-go indicator, a speedo and a score display.
Not to mention a Star Trek panel of randomly flashing
lights which looks pretty but tells you not a lot.
The scoring is based on a mishmash of distance trav¬
elled, speed travelled at and obstacles missed. It’s also
the only objective in the game - winning or losing don't
enter into it. Quite a fantasy .. .
Authetr: English Software
Price; £8S5
tasteless, bald, soporific, bromide and Mrs Grundy.
A wearisome game indeed. Nothing at all to
commend it, except perhaps for the speed of action,
but then we’ve all seen palette switching before. The
musak matches the real of the game very well indeed.
Bromide and Mrs Grundy.
^ Ignore the other’s comments, Blektraglide is
excellent, exhilarating and entertaining.
Your super car flies over the road and meets
out of this world hazards.
True it’s simple, perhaps too simple, but the overall
effect is similar to StarRider which was a Williams
Arcade machine programmed by Dale Luck and RJ
^1 don’t know why I let myself believe the
blurb that comes with the game. It happens
every time.
I read the instructions while waiting for the thing to
load, work myself into a feverish sweat, and then get
miserably let down. And this one sounded so good loo!
Mical (Now at Amiga and Electronic Art<i).
However ElektraGlide lacks opponents. If there
were cars to race against it would be more fun. Still I
enjoyed it, more fun than the M25 on a Tuesday
morning. ^
’Zi
The only way 1 actually managed to play this was to
hold the joystick on to full speed and just mow down
anything in sight, which slowed me down a bit but was
infinitely faster than trying to dodge the nasties, ^lis
tactic did work; when 1 woke up I found 1 had driven
through England/Seotland/Walea to Auetralia!^
Page 96
Amatrad User Febmary 1687
r~r<ne iiPfiRADE ^
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easisT than you thVik'.
Qur $jrrple, comprehensive insluctiens ro^irfi dtls sirrilar m repladng a 1u^- We
supply iBstad^ TOP OUAUTY, fast (15<;]iiS] ftiips which are n prelbmiKl for ease cf
insen»n - NO BENDING REOUIBED - plus a Spare praciice chipiD gve you
codidanca.
256K Ihicrnal Meitkory Upgrade £23t9Ci IntErnal DS'DO 2nd Disc Drive £135
Memory Upgrade plus Second Disc Drive £155
Prices include VAT and PAP. Deivery is normal^ by return
Sand Chaquas/PO/LA ordars to:
SILICON CITY
DepL A, Mithlan, St. Agnos, Cornwall TRS OQE
AccesSfVisa orders: Telephone 087 255 211Z
Contiiig soon, tbc
V
• for Amsifsd CPC 61 ZB ard PCW 6256/8512
# new a.ppn>ad6 to home finance # a. pmgrjim ihal tidps ytHJ Ed
# ;^vie l<>r your haddoys ... a new cor... a new hoii^ ... you naiiYie il!
4 designed especially fdrthe horde
■ easy to use • n.o codes # comprehensive manuaL
• up to 15 BCCOiints # person^alised prognim 9 rdiable
Available in Fchruary Special 3ntrOd.udOTY Ptice Only £19.95
Send now/or Ant/rer deiBiis and order form (sae appredsted)
DATA VISE
Dept AOJ,
20 DiumnaquoUc Eiond. C» 1 k'«^llfln
Co Down BCJl SNT
r
3 " HITACHI DISK DRIVES
Suftabla lor u&a on tha Amstrad 6128. 664. Tatung Einstetn, BBC witti
□FS. 40 trach. douUa derisity. 3 ms Iractc access time. Unlormatted
capacrty — &ngle sided 250k: double sidad 500k. Shuggart intartaca.
^1.^ CPiTipatible wih inch drives.
^Corriage£3+ VAT
lOr cmnwlipn to
Amstrad f? .St plus VAT
Bee ^ (IQ.EH plus VAT
TTflung — Ell.n plus VAT
PRICE:
£W.95 + VAT
Srigle sried
£3i.*s t m
Onjtile Sided
FOfl FUflTHffl D£TAiLS SfWO SAf. TO.'
l»fllK»l44,Uiit 11.l.nd1i« Of Cwniwlir AflBfKta^
LewKFkna UNOFELD. Ill herth^. CANTEReURY KmI CT1 IBH
Itet Sus«.c RH16 2U fei[J4«-7393&
g Leigh Computer Spateme
75 CHOSS STREET
SALE
MANCHESTER
Thtophone: 061-90S 2144
0456 612139
MAIN AMSTRAD DEALER
Largest range of computers in
Man^ester area
Besifjfices around on atf equipment eg. BBC's,
Atari's, Cad/Cam systems, pnVrters, potters,
modems, interfaces etc.
AutD Dial
f '^OC
14111 ^ Only £89.00 + VAT
A world of infoimation
at your firygertip^
Now >nj donT hmC a sp«Qii TV lor TWtaid ’pixj am r«ceiw h on '^r Amstrad 4E4 or 612^. TTie
MkmBHl Tsle(«!n Ad.mtor pw a lul co^ dnfilay {fl anif ol ttm 1*^ C««raf D<
Oacie. There's tie lale&l n#i*s and 'KAware ■'evwws. spons ihvIs and^ 1|pt.
TV plus nw^ mm. hundreds pl pOfU te |iue you 1li« Aiy latest informallDn. at
flw VHfli gf t tutlon
ITS easy la use but pewerld toa, a gage Ircni Telereit Ike a nsgipe tx a weadier inap may be saved
lor later rek»difi 9 w pintert ca and TeMeal may wi be wxeseetf by ytijr oem pn^rtun to ftM
graphs cd share tnovamanls or lo^ the lal«t resuns into a pools pradxtor. 1h« possbNiies are
endless and i loads Tetesokwars k»!
Supplied «i1h a manual. Ih* adaptof 4 W*d tnd Ha nutty on Ihe expansion pod. A conneding lead
etiich could be extended as lar as IDDtI. goes Id llie VIDEO OUT socket ol your video recerder -
Ih4 cpnotpl meane w exlra asfiaJ rs not required, channel seieew 4 done 4h Ihe 'Mdee which Mv4S
i4 dHTip(Fle(ilS. and saves you nwriey*
“vHY powerful todli Inde^*- SBC CaebXn. maguliM
Just £69.96 live Pfl*, Oriily from
MICROTEXT
7 Birdlip Place, Horndean, Hants P08 9PW
Telephone: (0705) 595694
IBM PC COMPATIBLE SOFTWARE
3 Products for the Home Market
• CATALOGUER {Heal tor bodks, necerds cfc)
• DIARY
' ADDRESS BOOK {MaQilajii& adifresses, 'phone numbers
bulhdays cBc.)
£39.95 fJich £49.95 for 1 for all 3
Small Business Software
DISCO WANACiCR £59.95
Caiato^u of your records and tapes. Provides lists by
calcj^iTYr trade name, album dlk cr artisEE.
INSURANCE AGENCY MANAGER £59.96
Mamtains files of policy holders and policies held. Pruas lists,
libels or user desigiaed lefners for renewals, mail shots etc.
/Yif« are VAT utt lituve
Cholea Soltwan Lid
98 Trmily Roail Hilsiud, EiScs C09 l£D Tclr f!7«7 474&11
Amstrad User February 1957
Pages?
AMDRIVE
The 3" Second drive for the CPC range of
computers - as featured In Amstrad
Computer User's Reader Offer last month.
Drive mechanism by Hitachi, case, power
supply and cables by Silicon Systems.
Guaranteed for 12 months, all you need to
supply is the computer and a mains plug.
iVormoZly £89.95
Special price to ACU readers
£79.95 Including VAT and postage
MEGADRIVE
The Megadrlvc is the Big drive for the CPC
range of machines giving a massive
1,000,000 bytes of unformatted storage on
6.25" discs, Supplied complete with an
Interface and aU connecting leads the
Megadrlve has a buDt-in power supply and
comes with utility software, Butlt to Silicon
Systems usual high standards the Megadrlvc
has a 12 month guarantee.
Normally priced at £229
we are offering ACU readers the chance to
purchase tn November and December at
£209,00 inclustve of VAT and postage
AMRAM
At last - sideways RAM for the CPC range - this unique peripheral allows you to save any
ROM to disc, load any rom to AMRAM where the computer thinks that It Is a ROM!
Supplied with a sophisticated package of Icon driven software which allows you to edit and
customise ROMS.
AMRAM has been tested with all known commercially available ROMS and is filler
compatible with them ALL!
Available now at £39,95
2.2 PLUS
The CP/M Utility of the year for CP/M 2.2 USERS,
Enables you to run almost all known CP/M 2.2 software on your Amstrad CPC computer.
Also features eOKTPA, a full Heath-Zenith Terminal Emulation, 16K print spooler and
silicon disc management If you have the RAM packfs) fitted.
£19.95 on disc £17,95 on tape complete with 30 page manual.
Please state tuhich conymter Le. 6128/664/464 you are using
OVEE8EAS ORDERS PLEASE ADD £3.00 FOR POSTAGE
SEIECTED ITEMS AVAILABLE FROM:-
SEMAPHORE: CH-1283 LA PLAlNE. GENEVA SWtTZERLAND
PR8 SOFTWAREDIENST. ERBACHSHOF, 8702 EISINGEN. WEST GERMANY
U.K. TRADE ENgUlRES WELCOME.
TRAFPORD TECHNOLOGY CENTRE. 43 ELSINORE ROAD, MANCHESTER
M16 OWG. TEL 061-848 8959
Page 98
Amstrad User February 1907
IREN
OFTWAREI
"Without a doubt Siren Software have produced some of the best disc utilities
ever seen on Ihe Amsirod range of computers/ AmIUi January T9d7
Top Quality Utility Software for your Amstrad
DISCOVERY
to Disc Transfer Program
AMSTflAD
CPC 664 ei2fl:
★ NEW ★ DISCOVERY PLUS ★ new ★
The ultimate tape to disc transfer program
*DI$covefY PkJS must be the mosf advanced andpf<±>abtY most efficient tope to
disc transfer ulfUty to date " Annstrod Action December 1986
This program will transfer more games to disc thon any other transfer program. The
first person who con prove otherwise will receive twice his mortey back! I
Discovery Plus consists of 4 easy to use programs that together will transfer an
extrennely high proportion of your software onto disc.
Also irtcluded is details on how to transfer over TOO games.
Sfver Screwdriver Award Amfixi January }98/
Dfscovory Plus onty SJ4.99 on <£sc for the 464/664/6 J28
Updates
If you hove olt old Discovery program serrd It back to us and we will send you the
New Discovery Plus for only £5.99 (or £8.99 if you have discovery on tape).
Tfarwnat owners, send us your Transmat to receive a £2.50 discount if you have the
disc version of TronsfTKit Of £1.00 if you have the tap© version ofTransmat.
NEW ★ NEW^ HANDYMAN ★ NEW ★ NEW
FORMAT YOUR DISCS TO 416K
Handyman the unique disc enhancement package allows you to monoge, use
and get more from your discs. Look at these unique features:
Format your discs to 416K (203K per side on a standard CF2 disc)
* Save unwanted discs onto tape to release expensive disc space
* Full dlsc/flle search ard edit. Find arxj alter messages In programs
‘ Superb nriienu maker puts a menu selection system on your discs
* Fllemate displays ASCII flies, finds text In files, prints files etc etc
*5tren has come up with another marvelous piece of soffwore'Amstrad Action
December 1986
lhi$ is Just about the best disc utility that f have had to use' Amtixl Jan 67
Amtixt Goiden Screwdriver Award Jan &7
Handyman on disc for the 464/664/61 SB only £12.99
AMSTRAD
CPC 464/664/6128
★ ★ MASTER DISC ★ ★
Master
Disc
THE DISC USERS UTIUTY
^ Master Disc contain* q disc copier, directory editor, fast formatter, sector editor,
deprotector, disc and lope header readers, tram disc, trans tape, disc map,
typefile, dUmpflle B zlpdisc.
*Jh© poc^foge seems to work very weft on ihe futi range of mach/hes' Amtix I
June 86
'Each sectior\ is futiy documer\ted wtth clear and precise insfruc/ions* Amtlxl June 66
'This Siren packoge really does offer you quite a tot for your money' Amstrad
Action Jur>e 66
^ 'So far we have yet to find a disc that it cannot copy from, it even copies
unformatted discs* A^^\Vx^ June 1966
Master disc avollable on disc only £T2.99 for the 464/664/6126
THE IDEAL CHRISTMAS PRESENT M BUY HANDYMAN, MASTERDISC AND DISCOVERY
PLUS AND RECEIVE A FREE ‘DIAL A DISC’ 3 INCH DISC BOX (WORTH £5.99)
ALSO AVAILABLE; AMDRIVES. MEGA DRIVES AND AMRAMS If!
Siren Software, Trofford Technology Centre, 43 Elsinore Rd, Manchester M16 OWG
Tel: 061-848 9233. Access Credit Card Hotline: 061 -796 6874
AMSnilUl
rAftjnmcii liceti
extlashe
READER
OFFERS
Here's your chance to
turn yourself into a
superb artist - even if
you've never used a
paintbrush m your life!
This brilliant software
design package for the
CPC6128 puts a fuli
range of unique facilities
at your fingertips — and
with this exclusive offer
from Amstrad Computer
User you save £5 off
the retail price!
i-oq/f at riy mJMy feature s,-
Operates in Modes 1 and 2. Windows., loons,
pull down menus, pointing de^lOBS. Afl
Infonmation on scceen. Works with keyboard,
joystick or mouse. Dot matrix primer durrips.
25 sizes in firey scaie. Supports Amstrad and
Epson cornpatible printers and includes us&r
definabFe option. Save, ioad and merge pictures
and fonts to disc. 16 pens.. variabPe-flow
airbrush, 16 user-defioable brushes. Undo
faciiity. Windows can be cleared. Inverted, cut
3nd pasterin enlarged, reduced, squashed,
stretched, flipped and rotated. Solitf fill.
Teitiured fril, 32 user definable patterns. Wash
texture facility. 3 levels ol mapnlficgtion with
pixel edit pan arid zoon. Text. 9 cbargeter sizes.
3 directions, bold, rotate font. Font editor,
clear, invert, ffip rotate characters or whole
font., copy ROM, capture fom from window.
Find out why it was voted IMo. 1 in
Best Utility of the Year' contest!
Create an image-Shrink it, expand it, move
it, rotate it, copy it, colour it. Spray a pattern
or a shade. Make elastic fines, triangles,
rectangles, circles - stretch and manipulate.
Add text or characters, up, down, sideways —
any size or proportion. Zoom in to draw in
fine detail. Shrink the whole picture to add
background.
Be your own composer, studio
engineer — or rock star!
Make the music YOU
want to hear with this
sophisticated music
development package
for the CPC series.
Whether you're a
stylish performer
already or a complete
beginner, you'll revel in
the creative possibilities
presented by The Music
System. With it you can
turn your Amstrad CPC
into the heart of a
modern digital recording
studio. And if you buy
Amstrad Camputer User
you'll save £5 off the
retail price! _,
Switch on to grant new
sounds on your A ntstradI
Editing's simple with icons, windows
and pull-down menus. There's a
detailed manual to help you get
started, 30 pre-set sounds plus
sample music files you can use to
create new compositions!
ontape
ppp £15.95
OUR PR/CE
mj9s
To order please use the form on Page 103
Your A mstrad Computer
User is the ideal source of
reference for every user of
Amstrad computers. Keep
your magazines tidy and in
lip-top condition by using
our top quality binder.
The Amstrad Computer
User binder holds 12
issues. Each binder is
black with the logo
embossed in silver*
Only £3.95.
onty
95
UK
Binders
Sukseripihns offers
Cheap discs - WOW!
Discs are essfritiel to s^nyone with an Amstrad di^c drive if you o^n a DDI-1 .CPC 664, CPC
6120, PCW 0256 or even e PCW ©SIS yov will he interested id this ipetial offer.
O^iT cj'/s« CP?r C2,74
You could pav fls much as twice ihat, usual ptic# is around C4 per disc. Ttiere must be a
catch". Yes, there is - vou can onlv qualify for the off&r when you subscribe to
Computer User.
These are nfficial, chorou^hly tested discs made by Panasonic- They are NOT the cheap,
unreliable imports now coming on to (he UK nnarket.
See rfeiatls op jffte or<^er forfrr afongside.
Oustcosers
□ MP2000/3000|
Printer £3.35
Keep your equipment free from dust and
grime with an Amstrsd Professton^f _
Computing dustcovec made fronn dear
pliable vinyl and bound by strong red cotton anid sporting the logo
ATfW
PCI 51Z Keyboard
and manrtor sat
only £9*90 set
C It’s the ideal way to
protect your computer^
tE
8eeit issets
^9S5 — Mmrch: tnt&frupt driven screen
dump. Music explained. Fiti routine,
Aprii; Printer reviews. Joystick reviews.
Proportionsi printing.
May; CPC 654 review. Virgin Interview.
Using inch discs.
June: Maxam assembler review. Pock
Hopper listing. CP/M user group
feature.
Juty: 664 {and 6J28i fo 464 conversion.
Graphics roo/l^f^ fistirtg. Speech
synthesisers compared.
August: Screen designers compared.
Technician Ted map, Knight Lore map
and pokes.
September: Double height routine.
Unsung heroes — MEJ. Crary legs
listing,
October; CPC 6128 review. Okimate 20
review. OK'tronics light pen.
November: Amgraph business
graphics listing. DMP-2000 review. Life
program,
December: Everyone's Waity map and
pokes. Protext reweiv. Enhanced trace
utility.
19S6 - Jenueiyr Mode 3 revealed.
Sorcery plus pokes and map. Shaded
dump listing.
Fabmaty: Brainstorm review, Graphics
adventure creator. DK'tronics ram
expansion review.
March: Communications survey. Laser
Basic reviewed. The Music system
examined.
April: Using the 6845, Screen dipping
on the 6128. Graphic packages
reviewed.
May: Max Headroom. Joysticks
compared. Teletext adapter reviews.
Home spread fisting. Dummy Run map.
CPS review.
June.' Batman Map. Biggies preview.
Get Dexter Map. Music made simple.
ABC Planner calc.
July: Palace interview, Activision, Load
Spectrum screens into an Arnold, Battle
of the cars program.
\
Page 102
Amstrad User February 1987
I
i
The Reel Time audio tutor is the
fastest and most effective way to
learn Loco Script word processing
on the PCW S256 and 8512. The
course comes with two tapes,
together with fuil instructions and
3 Loco Script command reference
card. As it is aimed at the novice,
it assumes no prior knowledge of
either the PCW or LocoScfipt,
This is an ideal Teaching
medium, because you sit at the
keyboard listening to instructions
and taking appropriate action.
You learn how to load paper into
the printer to subjects like Cut
and Paste, Find and Exchange,
Set and Clear, block operations,
copying files - and a complete
overview of templates and
layouts.
Everything is explained with
remarkable clarity, with the
material carefully paced to
maintain interest throughout the
course. And we are offering it to
subscribers at HALF the normal
retail price!
only £ 4.9 5
if accompanied by
subscription order
4u^cfst; Equinox mapped, Ptint&r minf-
survey, Mfdi interface, interceptor iist-
irtg, M^sterfronic interview. Last free
issue of ABC.
Saptembein Spindiiiy map, detsited
assembler survey. Joystick reviews,
PCW games.
October: PC t512 reviewed, compilers
tested, LoeoMeit, Basic 2 snd Animator
reviewed. Hacking help with joysticks
and 5form. Sound add-ons examined.
Which fiight simulator?
Movember: Art package three-way test
Combat games compared Using PIP.
Mikro-Ger} interview. Double trouble
ifsting.
December: Heartland preview, Rombo
Vidi fuH test, O&r} Dare map, defining
function keys under MS-dos.
t&B7 — January: Jaitbreak, Stargiider,
Mode! Universe reviewed, PC games,
Arnor interview. Frost 8yte mapped.
Crawler listing, Muiti coloured Cfk^-
Back issues
£1.25 each
coMHfimusai
ORDER
FORM
Offerw lo svaiabiity
AttprSfxe tndtJdepottaga,pAcftingSVAT.
All Overseas Harfi desfutched by mail
Vatictto^BLZa?
Subscriptions
£12 UK and Elia
£25 Eun^
£40 Dv«r«as
CoiTHTBncewtth —
Subscription often
F'fveSTdhcs £13 l7C
Euiope add £2. add £5
Ten r EkscB £27,40
Eunva add£2,Ov«iseasadd£10
Heahime Audio T ulor £4.95
Eungpe/Overse^a add
tomy iviAnbM If iccompanM by aubuHpdon order.
Back numbers ci.2s<ach
Apxll
May
Juno
JLriy
August
So^ernlnr
October
NDvarrtMT
Dooeiifber
January '8$
February
£ p
aoQO
aooi
ao€2
— Issue
81 W
eifi
BH2
S0O4
800$
BOOS
8007
eoos
6009
80 JO
sent
80J2
sots
sou
8015
March
SQie
April
B01?
May
B018
June
B019
July
8020
August
8021
SepteiTlHr
8022
October
etm
November
8024
D^caTber
8025
January'ST
aoss
Trivial Pursuit
COMPLETE PACKS
^SSSfr
PCW S«rne
WithBLto*
WUhom sub
Genus Disc
CPCSerfn
£12.95
£17j95
fl;,3ffHT2S
Genus Tape
£7,95
£12:95
81 imi 19
Genii£ Disc
E1Z95
£17.95
612t¥8121
Young Players’ Tape
£7.95
£12:95
8122/9t23
Young Ple,yers' Disc
Eftra Qiwetiun Peck
E1Z95
£17.95
S12*^fZS
Young Players' Tape
£3.95
£6.95
S12Sf912/
Ezn
*0f\fy avaHalble f accofrpenigd by a order or Fenewat
Locospeli/Locomail
PCWSw^lee Loce^l £32.^6* BJ$0
LfMxrnall £2£J9S* arSI
Both £63,45* 8i32
'AddS£Eunfie(C$fDfbolli}. Add Overseas {£S ior bOt(t}
Rainbird Music System cpc nmpe wly
Tape
£10.45
£14.45
Rainbird Art Studio CPC range only
Disc £14.45
8W7
8108
8109
Dust
covers
Binders
sel
£9.90
B1$4
CPC 464*664 ksytxjard
£3.95
8100
CPC ei 28 keyboard
£3.95
3101
CPC range green ecreen
£5-95
8102
CPC range colour monitor
£5.95
8103
DMP EOtXVaOOQ Pnrta
£3.95
8105
PCW 82S& keyt»«xl, manior
and prtoterset
£11.95
8104 1
£3.95 UK
8108
£6.45 Eu<WQ
£10:45 Overaefts
European end Overeeae rvedert, p to MO
add 1^ per itern unigM t^gfwtwiindipated
TOTAL.
Send to
Anwired Compuler Uht,
FREEPOST,
SE Si FuMregale,
Stockport SKI IHL
Please IndlcHtB method d peymeni i*V)
I 1 Affltts/MaueKharge/EurocardiCardiaycajt^^
I I I I I I I I I I I N I !
Signature . _
Telephone orders 0Gl4£4 7931 24 tvui^
Enquiri» 061460 Dl7l ^Evr-^iprn
Expiry date
/
U
I I Cheque^PO made pevdbiB u Ameirad CorTputer User
Ma/rw - --
Address.
PLEASE PRINT IN BLOCK CAPITAL LETTERS
Ple^ allow UP to 2a days <or deUvenr
ACU?
Amstrad User February 1987
Page 103
All £9.95
Spectrum rn October, Amstrfid in November, Commodore 64 in December
Castle LodgCr Castle Green,
Taunton, Somerset TAT 4AB
Cng land Telephoto (wj
i“'''TJr":^^."J»
p MI«4P|e-# |i(l
'::i^': :■ ts^''"
k.
Id
i^iiaa
' CMMlrntgCrCaAteC^ ||
N Tawton^. SoimfMt TAf ’ 4AB ,., 1
Bh EnOJ^V^ twiwflwuM |Maj>44W * ww | i
r
'\k
H;&. ■ vv...
T:AifflTiiii"i!i»ninnHHk«uiyii!i;;:;'|i!' I'iMm
"NEW RIBBONS FOR OLD"
from
ALADDINK
AtADDtNK WILL RE-INK YOUR OLD FABRIC RIBBONS
AT GREAT SAVINGS AGAINST NEW PRICES!!
PCW: Ba$6 price; £2.10 2nd & subsequent; £1.85 each
DMP: Base price: £2.15 2nd & subsequent: £1.90 each
Post your old cassette together witfi remittance to:
ALADDINK(DeptAU)
4 Hurkur Crescent, Eyemouth, eerwickshira TOl 4 SAP
Most makes o1 ribbon catered for. Telephone 06S07 5096S lor a quotation
ASTROLOGY
for beginners
Teach youFseff astrnlc^ using ynur Amslrad
A Starter Pack cainprising a simple program lu calcuiale s httusoifie. an inlmtudiary
Inoklet and 2 self-teflching programs jhow le inleriirEl lha honBcofK]
£11.50 cassette £15.50 disc
No prevlcHj* knoiHlodge required
Also many other programs for more eK[>erience<) astrologers
Please send the Astrology Starter Pack tor my Amstrad
464/664/6128/8256, I enclose a chepue/PO, U.K, for
£11.50/E15.50 (Inc pAp}. Outside UK add 50p; or, I enclose a
large sae for tree catalogue.
Name .........
Address........
ASTROC ALC {Dept A) 67 Peascroft Road
Hemel Hempstead^ Herts HP3 8ER Tel: 0442 51809
AMSTRAD SOFTWARE EXCHANGE
FREE programs and details send SAE 23 x I6cm
SPECIAL OFFERS
for the Amstrod CPC464^664/P 128
Joystick
a Wby ahd (Ifa onf^
ROM card
raady to piijg (Ln-ciOBQCf)
** Fitp(7Y:ic]bl9 "
siderMUys rom. 2x RS32C. B bti
pnnrer port, last port ana
sortware ornom
pcm256. asi 2. VP Intorfoce
2rhd drive, printer etc
Merrtory Lfjgrods Wt
C2.5D
SIO
£51.7S
POA
£27.^
DISKS
5.25' UnlverstJ (DUloiyiws}
box of 10 FBfE llbrbrv CO»
y Compoct Ftoppv dista CF2
(cosed!)
PockofS
Box of 10
Oenlronlcs- printer cObte (2m>
RS232CcQt3teC2m) £8.50
'2nd cfetve CQl:ile
CPC464 exponfikyt oat4e <2 molas
and 1 ferTHtoconneclm) £15.00
Elm
£19 50
EM .95
£1000
ESJDO
Pro-Ed pro^Qslonci text editor only £15- Also ^»ciol prioe& on MO(;kinr-2. FYo
Pencil and Hlsoft products. Pfiorte at writo for FiJ prodLiol^/price llsr
AJif prices *ncHjc#e vat and postage
INFOTEK Design Ltd
Unit ](b}, Cavendish Courtyard, Sallow Road,
Corby, Northants NNI7 1 DZTel: (0536) 201743
JACKSON COMPUTERS LIMITED
JOIN OUR DISCOUNT CLUB!
Life membership for £8.50
Softwari&Hardwafe Discounis of 5-20% off RRP
All AJJSTRAD and olher leading makes of software available
Complete computet system. Printers, m-odems, cables
AMSTRAD CPC464 With colour monitor £279.90
AMSTRAD CPC6129 with cokjur monHw £379,90
PCWS2S6V512 £429,9&£552,00
NEW AMSTRAD IBM compatbie PCI 512 monofsingle floppy
PCI 512 HD 2OM0 Hard dek & colour screen
PC 1512 H D 10MB Hard disk & colour screen Ring for deiails
Tandon 20 Meg add-on Disk Drive fw PC 1512
Special Offer £436.00 + VAT* P & P
All ^Ices include VAT, Postage * Packing
Also free Lfle Memberstiip when you purchase any AMSTRAD oompufer
Visitors by arrar^ement only
TEL: 01451 6244
Send tor fii Puce List £ member^nip Inrm to;
67 Salsdon Park Road, South Croydon, Surroy
CR2 aJF
ADVERTISERS ^
INDEX
Adams Worlii ..
.12
Loriciels....
.4
Aflv^ntfligp , ,,..
..32
Matmos.....
.97
Aiaddink....
.106
ME AC Designs...,....
.88
Arasoft ......
..63
Meridian Software,,,...,^...
.84
Amstrad...........
.52,53,79
Metroheath....
.-63
Amstrad Distributioii.
...88
Micropower......
,15,84
ARC Education............
...97
Micrt>teKt ...
.97
Amor....,....,„„„
,38,44,45
Mterowise UK........
.......88
Astrocak....
..106
Mighty Micro...
,,..,..94
BBD TTuit. Covers..
..,87
Mirage MinmrOmpiiteira.
..48
Campbell Systems............
..2
MJC Supplies.
.84
Choke Software............
.....97
Nemesis..
.90
Compulink Servioes-..-......
....93
Newerown Computers Ltd.
.-87
Compuraart ..
...9
Ocean Software..30,34,46,72
Connect Systems.
.12
O.J-Software...
.106
CP^Sof^wa^e.
.„„91
Opus Supplies Ltd.
.22
Cyca-..
..93
Pride Utilities..
. .m
Database Publications.
.41,76
Database Software. 10,24,51,64,65
Romantic Robot....
.83
Datavise.........
...97
Rombo Productioiiis.
.......87
Datel Electronics...
.„„„„25
KSD Connections...
.49
J) (1 R(]pjiJiiwi
97
SBS Computer Supp] ies.
.-71
irimfial RjUvsn'Ii
-14
Schflol Software...
.26
DKTroniics
18 19,108
Selec Software.
..84
Durell.....
....104,105
Shethana Computer Services
.76
16
SilioonCity....
.97
HiRrvft
Silicon Systems......
.98
HSV Computer Servioes.
......48
Siren Software....
..99
Imagine Software..
..80
Tasman Software.
.58,59
Infotek Desi^.................
..106
The Print Wisard.......
.16
Jacksen C^puters.........
.106
TMC...
.93
KDS Electronics..
..90
TMECT-raditig.
.93
IjCfi Software.
..87
Transform,.....
.94
Leek Computer Centre ...
.94
Treasure [sland Software,.
.88
Leigh Computer Systems
..97
Trinky Business Systems.
.94
ADVEHTWE
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PLEASE^H)CHECK)E£«CTTDQ.J.»FTWARE|mCi5Ha
173 HOHT L£A HO*U. WIHI3MTW5Ttm, WlCMM, UAUCS-»« MW
HOST OTOERS DeSWTCMED BY RETUSH (OUT 0* STPCH. ITtlifi USuHLLt WfTtW 1 MCli)
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" SfflCIAL OfTERALi iOFTWARE OflOERg-OVEH EM FREE MiCUUTOH "
Page 106
Amstrad User Februaiy 1987
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AMSTRAD
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Pf-;-^v
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V21/23 Modem
by
Fre© 1st quarters
subscription to both
*Prestel and *Micronet 800
AVAILABLE FROM AMSOFT USER CLUB TELr 0783 673395
AND GOOD AM5TRAD COMPUTER STOCKISTS
APPRQVED*w«
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in Ifri iHtuciOMteftdABIbjdci ta
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NOW YOU CAN USE YOUR MONITOR FOR BOTH COMPUTING AND WATCHING TELEVISION B
■ Employing the latest chip technology the
'DKTronics receiver will convert your CPC
monitor into a high quality television set,
giving crystal dear pictures on all four
channels.
DKTronics Limited ■ Go Heston, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk. NR 31 66 E ■ Phone 0493 602926 {24 hours) Telex 975408 9
HOW TO ORDER ■ £69.95 induding VAT
OKTronics products are available in all good
computer stores or may be obtained direct
by telephoning and quoting your Bardaycard IIJ
or Access number power behind your amstrad
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